DLSS 5: She's a Witch, Burn Her!
It's all gotten a bit strange.
Nvidia announced DLSS 5, an AI solution for image upscaling and reconstruction.
The first version of DLSS was launched in 2018. There was no outcry. Multiple versions have been launched since then. There was no outcry.
Yesterday, they announced version 5, and suddenly it was the apocalypse.
AI SLOP! ARTIST INTENT!
What I saw was a way to upscale images from old games (that were created in lower resolutions with less detail), sometimes dramatically approving their quality.
Not all of the image comparisons seemed better. I thought the processing made some worse. On the whole, though, I thought it was a substantial leap forward.
What many other people saw, though, was heresy. As soon as the letters "A" and "I" are capitalized and put against each other, many people have become absolutely hysterical.
I get having objections to AI. We've discussed it here, and some of you had well-reasoned objections. I appreciated it. It's a complicated topic, and anyone who pretends it isn't is kidding themselves.
What's happening now, unfortunately, isn't discussion. A torch-wielding mob comes out every time AI is mentioned. It's reminding me more and more of Gamergate, which turned out to be well-orchestrated.
Digital Foundry, which published the video that ignited the firestorm, said they received death threats. Death threats over a rendering technology? Seriously?
Something seems off, and I could be totally wrong. Maybe that many people go to sleep at night despising AI. The way it's happening, though, seems a bit strange and predictable.
In the meantime, DLSS 5, when it's available, will only be used in games that choose to support it.
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