An Art Book Proves AI Will Never Create Art

17 Dec, 2025

Yesterday, Larian CEO and once good guy Swen Vincke enthusiastically told Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier about how he was forcing his employees to use generative AI in the development of their upcoming Gate in the Middle of the Dessert Simulator. The push back was swift, and rather obvious. Not only from fans, but even former and current Larian employees, proving Vincke’s claims that “everyone at the company is more or less OK with the way we’re using it” completely false.

He then took to Twitter (not a great start) in an expletive-filled rant against everyone being so darn mean to him. Its the usual drivel you’ll hear from AI brainrot supporters, talking about how human workers are important (even though they’re being removed from the process), how this won’t replace humans (even though that’s explicitly what the technology was designed for), how it’s only for design work and catching plot holes (something humans can easily do and have done for centuries), and how game studios need to be “state of the art” (whatever that means). Vincke then implied Schreier took him out of context, resulting in the reporter posting the un-edited transcript online.

This is all a fantastic demonstration of why you should never idolize anyone, much less CEOs. No matter how good they may pretend to be, at the end of the day, money and power corrupt even the sweetest soul.

But what I really want to focus on is how this relates to an excellent art book I just finished as this interview made the rounds. It’s from Promise Mascot Agency, the real Game of the Year in 2025, by Kaizen Game Works. It’s a 400+ page behemoth that details the creation of every piece of art in the game, shows some early prototype screenshots and concept art, and is generally a fascinating deep dive into the creation of the game.

Shockingly, the game was made without any generative AI, which is nothing short of a miracle considering art never existed before Sam Altman graced us with ChatGPT.

Indeed, this art book is unintentionally the greatest argument against using genAI in the creation of art. It’s packed with great anecdotes about how characters were designed, references to other media that inspired the team, and some things the team wishes they could have done differently, and what got cut. It talks about how various artists from the UK collaborated with artists from Japan, having auditions in Japan which led to the legend himself, Takaya Kuroda, just showing up for an audition one day and obviously getting the part. Manga artists were also hired on the game and influenced not only how several characters looked, but also how they acted, and even contributed plot points.

That’s what the Vinckes of the world will never understand about art. It’s not a thing produced on a factory line, made to order. It’s a collaborative process between several individuals, each drawing on their own experiences in life, their own cultures, to create a shared vision. This happens from the very beginning of a project all the way to the end. That concept phase that Vincke and his ilk are so desperate to speedrun is a critically important part of the artistic process. That’s where the project finds its voice, where artists and creators come together to share ideas and decide what story they want to tell.

Giving ChatGPT a basic prompt and running with whatever manufactured garbage it gives you is a recipe for bland characters, an uninteresting story, and a flat world. Nobody made it, nobody contributed their ideas or their experiences. It was created in a digital test tube based on thousands of stolen pieces of art diluted down to a generic facsimile.

When people say they’re “just” using genAI to create concepts, or double-check their work, to “save time,” what they’re really saying is that they want to hurriedly create content to sell as quickly as possible. They don't care about art and they have nothing to say.

This is one of those topics I could go on about all day, but really I just wanted to highlight how Promise Mascot Agency’s art book is so good. I love this game so much, and if you’ll allow me I’d like to break my “no Triple Iris video links” rule to show you my video review of the game from earlier this year. I cherish this game so much, and a big part of why is that you can tell it was made by humans, with all their heart and soul. It is truly a work of art, something that AI slop machines will never, ever be able to reproduce or top.