Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 director: AI can help, but it won't replace creatives
Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, the director behind The Witcher 3 and a former design director on Cyberpunk 2077, is clear on AI's role: use it to move faster, not to sideline people. At Rebel Wolves, his new studio, AI voices were used to test scenes for The Blood of Dawnwalker-then real actors came in to deliver the final performances.
The intent wasn't to cut corners. It was to hear dialogue early, iterate quicker, and raise the quality bar before booking the studio time. That's a practical, creator-first use case.
How Rebel Wolves used AI without losing the human touch
During development, placeholder AI voices gave the team immediate feedback on pacing, tone, and scene flow. Once the story and delivery landed, they recorded with professional actors. Simple. Effective. Human at the finish line.
Tomaszkiewicz's stance is pragmatic: AI should act like a tool-think more Google Translate-not a shortcut that copies or replaces the work of artists.
The take for creatives
AI can shorten the gap between idea and iteration. It can't replace taste, judgment, or performance. If you create for a living-writing, design, voice, music-this is the workable middle ground: prototype with AI, publish with people.
A practical playbook you can use today
- Prototype fast: use AI for temp reads, animatics timing, rough captions, or placeholder art. Validate pacing and intent early.
- Lock your standards: define "AI for draft/testing only; human for final." Put it in your production checklist.
- Protect rights: avoid tools trained on unlicensed datasets; get consent for voices; credit contributors clearly.
- Budget smart: use AI to spot weak scenes and rewrite before recording. Spend studio time on what's worth keeping.
- Keep the soul: final passes by actors, writers, editors, and directors. That's where nuance lives.
- Document the pipeline: Draft → Test (AI placeholders) → Human performance → Polish → Ship.
Where he draws the line
Tomaszkiewicz isn't against AI. He's against replacing artists with models trained on their work without permission. He doubts AI-only games will feel alive. Most creatives agree: process speed is useful; authorship and emotion are non-negotiable.
Context: who's talking
Tomaszkiewicz spent over 17 years at CD Projekt, working on all three Witcher titles, directing 2015's Wild Hunt and its expansions, then stepping up as design director on Cyberpunk 2077 and later VP of game development. He left in 2021, co-founded Rebel Wolves in 2022, and secured investment from NetEase. The studio's first project is The Blood of Dawnwalker.
Bottom line for your workflow
Use AI to hear, see, and test your ideas sooner. Keep humans for taste, performance, and final sign-off. That balance protects your craft and speeds up production without sacrificing meaning.
If you want structured ways to apply AI ethically in your creative process, explore curated learning paths by role at Complete AI Training.
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