"Holy f*** guys": Larian CEO knows AI "invokes a lot of emotion," responds to backlash and insists the Divinity studio is simply "researching and understanding the cutting edge"

Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has swiftly responded to a Bloomberg report saying the Baldur's Gate 3 developer is "pushing hard" for AI and subsequent backlash, insisting it's not that serious.

"Holy fuck guys we're not 'pushing hard' for or replacing concept artists with AI," Vincke wrote on Twitter. The Bloomberg report from December 16 claimed, "Under Vincke, Larian has been pushing hard on generative AI," while confirming AI assets wouldn't appear in the upcoming Divinity.

On Twitter, Vincke says, "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."

The studio lead compares AI tools to "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." He affirms this stance in a statement to IGN, explaining "We are researching and understanding the cutting edge of [machine learning] 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."

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

Meanwhile, a former Larian environment artist issues their own feedback on Bluesky: "I loved working at @larianstudios.com until AI. reconsider and change your direction, like, yesterday."

Despite the initial pushback, Larian is making Divinity with the help of AI, but you won't see it in-game: "Everything is human actors; we're writing everything ourselves."