Bethesda Pledges Artist-Led 'Adjustments' to DLSS 5 in Starfield After 'AI Slop' Criticism

Bethesda has promised to make "further adjustments to the lighting and final effect" of Nvidia's DLSS 5 technology in Starfield, following a wave of fan backlash over the game's AI-like facial visuals when the new feature was applied.

Numerous players have criticized the "AI-generated slop" shown by Nvidia in Starfield and other major titles like Oblivion Remastered, Assassin's Creed Shadows, and Resident Evil Requiem, labeling it an unwanted "AI filter."

Nvidia unveiled DLSS 5 yesterday, calling it "the GPT moment for graphics." In the announcement, the company addressed past challenges with AI video models, explaining that its approach ties the model to color and motion vector data from the game engine—similar to Frame Generation—to keep outputs aligned with the original scene. The model is trained to understand complex elements like characters, hair, fabric, and lighting conditions from a single frame, then uses that data to generate images.

Despite praise from Bethesda's Todd Howard, who hailed DLSS 5's impact as "amazing," some fans were unimpressed with the photorealistic lighting and facial details, prompting Bethesda to quickly temper its enthusiasm. The company stated, "Appreciate your excitement and analysis of the new DLSS 5 lighting here. 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." Bethesda emphasized that "this will all be under our artists’ control, and totally optional for players."

This response came after complaints that DLSS 5 overlays AI-generated graphics on the original art, with some players calling it "an insult to your own artists" and urging the studio not to impose it on their art teams.

DLSS first launched in 2018 with the RTX 2080, starting as a Deep Learning Super Sampling tool that upscaled lower-resolution games using AI. Over the years, it has evolved to include features like Frame Generation and Reflex, and now introduces an AI model that adds new lighting and materials for enhanced realism.

The debate over AI in gaming continues to split studios and fans, with some strongly opposing its use while others see it as an inevitable future development. Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser recently compared AI to mad cow disease, but the CEO of Genvid, behind interactive series like Silent Hill Ascension, argued that "consumers generally do not care" about generative AI in games, claiming that "Gen Z loves AI slop."