Larian Studios CEO goes on the defensive after admitting generative AI is used in its concept art process

A recent interview with Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has turned the otherwise deeply adored Baldur’s Gate 3 developer into a target for gamer backlash, as Vincke admitted that the company is using generative AI tools in the concept art phase of its games development.

In the Bloomberg interview, as well as in another from GameSpot, Vincke claims that Larian leverages genAI for the tasks that “nobody wants to do,” primarily in the whitebox phase of creating art or iterating on animations. While he admits that use of machine learning raises “red flags,” he also argues that the tools he references help human artists make more creative and complex work, improve efficiency “in theory,” and overall smooth the longer parts of the concept phase.

Backlash to the interviews was almost immediate, as gamers and even one former Larian dev decried utilizing generative AI in concept art, with most arguing that creating even base concepts are literally what concept artists do, that starting with genAI pieces as a very loose baseline is still using AI in game dev, and that machine learning is still stealing art from artists and thus harming their discoverability. Reporter Jason Schreier, who appeared surprised that the hot button topic was a hot button topic, then posted a full transcript of the interview segment to provide full context, though he also says he’s not attempting to change people’s minds on Vincke’s stance.

Vincke himself then responded directly to the backlash on Twitter, also for some reason appearing astonished by the fires his statements lit. “Holy fuck guys we’re not ‘pushing hard’ for or replacing concept artists with AI,” Vincke writes in part. “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.”

While some rushed to the CEO’s defense on the matter, his response didn’t appear to make things better, as most make similar arguments and others take umbrage with the tone of his statement in general. With Larian on the cusp of putting out a new Divinity title sometime soon, this is clearly not the PR the studio likely wanted and may have poisoned the well for some even before gameplay has been shown off.