The Creators of Baldur's Gate 3 Explains Its Use of Machine Learning for Upcoming Project

The team behind popular role-playing games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Divinity: Original Sin just teased its new project, sparking a wave of excitement within the gaming community. However, recent statements from the studio's co-founder have introduced clarity to the narrative, touching on the team's philosophy toward machine learning.

AI as a Creative Assistant, Not a Substitute

In a recent statement, Larian's director detailed that the company is utilizing AI technology for certain preliminary purposes. These encompass developing presentation materials, creating rough visual ideas, and creating draft text.

Notably, Vincke made clear that the end content in the game will be crafted solely by actual creatives. "Our team is writing everything ourselves," he said.

Larian is constantly increasing our team of writers and are actively putting together writing teams.

Since this area is being particularly called out — we right now have 23 artistic staff and have job openings for additional creatives.

Each initiative we do is supplementary and aimed at letting our team spend greater focus on the creative process.

Any machine learning application applied correctly is a boost to a developer's process, not a replacement for their skill.

Tempering Reactions with Clear Intent

The news of using AI originally sparked backlash among portions of the player base. In response, Vincke provided additional detail on social media.

"At Larian, we employ AI tools to gather inspiration, just like we use search engines and art books," he stated. "During the initial ideation stages we use it as a rough outline for composition which we then substitute with original illustrations."

He added, "Our studio recruits creatives for their unique talent, not for their capacity to follow what a machine suggests."

Focused Uses for Machine Learning

Vincke had in the past broken down the studio's targeted method to machine learning, defining its use into primary areas:

• Handling Monotonous Jobs: This encompasses refining animations, voice editing, and Larian-specific work like adapting animations for different models.
• Rapid Prototyping ('White Boxing'): Using tools to quickly build rough mock-ups of scenarios to test concepts before expensive production.
• Long-Term Aspirations: Exploring how machine learning could one day facilitate innovative reactivity, specifically in creating unforeseen permutations in a vast role-playing world.

He explicitly stated that key artistic disciplines — like visual art — are not areas where the team is replacing artistic talent. On the contrary, Larian is actively hiring in these precise positions.

"We are not releasing a game with machine-made assets, nor planning on reducing staff to substitute them with AI," Vincke summarized.