CD Projekt said in January 2024 that AI "can help improve certain processes in game production, but not replace people," a mushy sort of statement that's difficult to pin down to any real stance. During today's FY 2024 financial presentation, however, joint CEO Michał Nowakowski got a little more specific on the topic, saying the studio is not using generative AI on The Witcher 4 or other in-development games. Not because the results are usually dodgy, but because of potential legal entanglements.
"I think we mentioned before that last year, we set up a team that’s investigating the potential use of AI solutions in our future products, including development of our own customized AI models," Nowakowski said in response to a question about the use of generative AI in CD Projekt's future games. "And we have several research projects underway. However, they are really not necessarily focusing on generative AI.
The use of copyrighted material in training AI, generative and otherwise, has become a very big issue, beyond the scope of this story—thankfully PC Gamer's Jacob Ridley has a really good rundown of what it's all about, complete with some outstanding, absolutely not gen-AI art. But the short version is that massive, multi-billion-dollar AI companies claim they can't survive without taking advantage of material they don't have the rights to, some artists and journalists who actually create things are pushing back, and while it's usually a good bet that big corporations will ultimately get their way, questions abound for now and the potential for headaches is real.
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