Baldur's Gate 3 Developer Drops Generative AI. Here's the Signal for Writers
Larian Studios, the team behind Baldur's Gate 3, has confirmed it's scrapping Generative AI from its creative process-full stop. After backlash over earlier comments about using AI for ideation, studio head Swen Vincke said, "there is not going to be any gen AI art in Divinity."
The decision extends to writing. Larian's writing director Adam Smith clarified: "We don't have any text generation touching our dialogues, journal entries or other writing in Divinity." On AI-generated placeholder text, he added: results were "a 3/10 at best."
What This Means for Working Writers
Speed hacks are tempting. But Larian's stance doubles down on something every writer already knows: quality survives the edit, not the shortcut. Even Smith joked his worst drafts sit at "4/10," and that the real gains come from iteration and editorial eyes-not machine output.
There's also trust. Audiences can smell filler. Larian's move removes uncertainty about what's human and what's synthetic, keeping the voice consistent and the bar high.
Quality Beats Quantity (Especially in Dialogue)
The studio highlighted the pipeline: stubs, iterative rewrites, and many passes before a single line ships. That's the real craft. AI placeholders don't help you cut steps; they add cleanup.
For dialogue-heavy work, fidelity to character voice matters more than speed. If you write for games, narrative products, or scripted media, this is your signal to sharpen editing loops, not prompts.
Practical Moves You Can Apply Today
- Use bare stubs, not AI placeholders. Force clarity at the concept level and reduce cleanup later.
- Run a strict pass system: intent, structure, voice, rhythm, then polish. One goal per pass.
- Add friction by bringing in two readers: one for story logic, one for tone and cadence.
- Document character voice with "do/don't" lines. Keep a living style guide so every revision tightens the voice, not drifts it.
The Environmental Footnote Writers Shouldn't Ignore
Concerns about AI's resource use also fueled the discussion. Research has flagged a non-trivial water footprint for training and inference at scale. If you want the details, see this technical analysis: Making AI Less Thirsty (arXiv).
Source and Context
Larian addressed the topic directly during a community Q&A, clarifying the full stop on Generative AI for both art and writing. For the primary source, see the Reddit AMA where leadership answered questions openly.
Bottom Line
AI isn't replacing skilled writing in high-stakes production. It's getting benched because it creates more work and lowers trust. The edge is still human-tight briefs, ruthless edits, consistent voice, and a team that sweats the lines.
If you're a writer, protect the pipeline. Draft fast, revise slow, and ship only what reads like it was written by someone who cares.
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