Swen Vincke, the CEO of Larian Studios, has finally shed light on the studio’s stance regarding the use of generative AI in the development of the new 'Divinity' title. He clarified that AI-generated art will have no place in the game, adding that any AI-assisted assets would only be considered if the training data source is indisputable and 100% consent from the original creators is guaranteed.

This revelation came during a Reddit 'AMA (Ask Me Anything)' session held on the 9th. The controversy first ignited last December when Vincke told Bloomberg that they were experimenting with AI for placeholder text, PowerPoint presentations, and early concept art. Even back then, he insisted that AI-generated content wouldn't end up in the final game and wasn't intended to replace staff, but the backlash was relentless. He eventually promised to address the studio's AI policy in a future AMA, and this session was the result, featuring Vincke alongside key Larian developers.

To start with, Vincke made it abundantly clear: not a single piece of generative AI art will find its way into Divinity. While they had discussed using AI for initial concept art phases, they have decided to scrap that entirely to avoid even a shred of doubt. By doing so, they hope to silence any debate over the provenance of their art once and for all.

However, the team isn't putting a total stop to all AI-related experimentation. Vincke believes that constant iteration and polish are key to a better gameplay experience, and he sees potential in using AI to streamline these processes. "It’s about refining ideas faster, focusing development efforts, cutting out waste, and ultimately shipping a higher-quality game," he noted.

He further added that if AI is used for asset creation, it would rely strictly on data owned by the studio. "The critical point is that we will never create 'creative assets' for the game unless the training data source and the consent of the original creators are 100% certain. If we use generative AI for asset production, we will train it only on our own proprietary data," he explained.

The discussion also touched on machine learning-based assets used for cinematics and animation. Gabriel Bosque, Larian’s Lead Machine Learning Engineer, explained, "To perfect actor performances, we use machine learning models to clean up data and fill in missing motion. These models are trained exclusively on Larian’s own data."

Adam Smith, Larian’s Scenario Director, was blunt about the utility of generative AI for writing: it isn't useful, and they aren't using it. "We experimented with text generation tools, but the results were, at best, a 3 out of 10. Even my worst drafts are at least a 4. The sheer amount of iterative work required to bring it up to our desired quality is just immense," he said.

Finally, Art Director Alena Dubrovina views AI as a tool for task optimization, but flatly rejected the idea of using it for game assets, modeling, or sculpting (crafting muscle, wrinkles, or fabric textures). She insisted that such assets simply wouldn't pass the high-quality bar set for Divinity.

In short, Larian Studios is sticking to a policy of excluding generative AI output from their game, and where they do use it, they are restricting it to their own data to avoid any copyright or plagiarism concerns. It will be interesting to see how the new Divinity shapes up under these strict standards.

Aside from the AI debate, other snippets of information about the new Divinity were revealed. There will be no WASD movement, and the game will support cooperative play that scales with the party size from launch. The 'Magic Armour' system, which was criticized for stifling party composition diversity in previous titles, will not return, allowing for deeper relationships between party members. The game is being built on the existing Divinity engine, and a Switch 2 release is currently under consideration.