Larian boss Swen Vincke responds to gen AI controversy: 'We aren't replacing teams with AI'

Larian boss Swen Vincke issues multiple statements on the heels of a recent Bloomberg report, which says that Vincke is pushing the use of generative AI in future games.

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Controversy has struck indie darling Larian, a studio that garnered tremendous goodwill with fan favorite RPG Baldur's Gate 3. The game creators are apparently using generative AI to make their next game, Divinity, which is said to be the group's most ambitious project to date.

Now studio head Swen Vincke has clarified Larian's position on generative AI, even going so far as to promise an AMA where users can directly ask questions to the team. Vincke tells IGN that Larian won't "trim down teams and replace them with AI."

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Here's the statement that Vincke provided to IGN on the subject of generative AI. Then there's a follow-up statement that was released today where Vincke discussed the AMA.

We've been continuously increasing our pool of concept artists, writers and story-tellers, are actively putting together writer rooms, casting and recording performances from actors and hiring translators.

Since concept art is being called out explicitly - we have 23 concept artists and have job openings for more. These artists are creating concept art day in day out for ideation and production use.

Everything we do is incremental and aimed at having people spend more time creating.

Any ML tool used well is additive to a creative team or individual's workflow, not a replacement for their skill or craft.

We are researching and understanding the cutting edge of ML as a toolset for creatives to use and see how it can make their day-to-day lives easier, which will let us make better games.

We are neither releasing a game with any AI components, nor are we looking at trimming down teams to replace them with AI.

While I understand it's a subject that invokes a lot of emotion, it's something we are constantly discussing internally through the lens of making everyone's working day better, not worse.

That same day, he also posted a lengthy Tweet on the subject:

Holy fuck guys we're not "pushing hard" for or replacing concept artists with AI.

We have a team of 72 artists of which 23 are concept artists and we are hiring more. The art they create is original and I'm very proud of what they do.

I was asked explicitly about concept art and our use of Gen AI. I answered that we use it to explore things. I didn't say we use it to develop concept art. The artists do that. And they are indeed world class artists.

We use AI tools to explore references, just like we use Google and art books. At the very early ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for composition which we replace with original concept art. There is no comparison.

We've hired creatives for their talent, not for their ability to do what a machine suggests, but they can experiment with these tools to make their lives easier.

In today's response, Vincke briefly discussed Larian's ethos around AI--generative or otherwise--saying that it would be "irresponsible" for the team not to look at new technologies for any kinds of productivity uplift. That being said, gen AI is reportedly causing issues, particularly at EA.

Vincke's words have proven to be controversial, with some artists and creatives feeling like this focus ultimately squeezes more people out of jobs.

Here's what Vincke said today on the topic:

It's been a week since we announced Divinity, our next RPG, and a lot has become lost in translation.

Larian's DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, and players. A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possibly make.

In that context, it would be irresponsible for us not to evaluate new technologies. However, our processes are always evolving, and where they are not efficient or fail to align with who we are, we will make changes.

To give you more insight, we'll do an AMA featuring our different departments after the holiday break, in which you'll get the opportunity to ask us any questions you have about Divinity and our dev process directly.

We'll announce the date in the new year. In the meantime, I wish you all happy holidays!