Bethesda will be “further adjusting the lighting and final effect” of Nvidia’s DLSS 5 visuals on Starfield, following the controversial AI-tech’s reveal.
For those unaware, DLSS 5 is newly-announced AI-powered tech which Nvidia calls a “breakthrough in visual fidelity for games”, and includes an optional upscaling filter which essentially ‘beautifies’ (I am using that term very loosely here) characters’ faces and lighting. In the case of Resident Evil Requiem’s Grace Ashcroft, the DLSS 5 filter appears to enlarge her lips and give her more makeup.
Along with the most recent Resident Evil, another game used to showcase the tech was Starfield, with Bethesda’s own Todd Howard calling the DLSS 5’s effect on the game “amazing”. That being said, Bethesda has heard the concern amongst its community since the reveal, and released another statement assuring fans that when DLSS 5 is being used in its games, it will be done so “under our artists’ control”, and be “totally optional” for players.
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“Appreciate your excitement and analysis of the new DLSS 5 lighting here,” the Bethesda social media team wrote in response to a post highlighting the tech by Digital Foundry. “This is a very early look, and our art teams will be further adjusting the lighting and final effect to look the way we think works best for each game.
“This will all be under our artists’ control, and totally optional for players.”
Other responses to the post have been less diplomatic. “This is Nvidia taking a dump all over games as an art form,” reads one such reply lambasting the use of AI to gloss over a creator’s original work. “Games are art. This isn’t.”
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More broadly, AI remains an area of heated debate within the industry. While many developers have flirted with the technology, some have embraced it more than others, and last year, Epic Games boss Tim Sweeney said “AI will be involved in nearly all future production”, so having Steam games disclose whether they were built with AI makes about as much sense as telling us what kind of shampoo the developers use.
More recently, Arc Raiders developer Embark Studios revealed it had re-recorded some of its AI-generated voice lines, acknowledging “there is a quality difference” with lines recorded by human actors.