GoKawiilNvidia opened its GTC conference with a keynote by CEO Jensen Huang, revealing the company's latest tech. Among the raft of the company's AI developments, gamers were treated to the imminent version of its AI-powered upscaling and optimization technology, DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), touted as the "biggest breakthrough in computer graphics".
Nvidia published a video illustrating how DLSS 5 can enhance graphics in Resident Evil Requiem, Starfield and other games, showing before-and-after takes. But gamers weren't thrilled. In fact, the response to DLSS 5 resembles more of a collective backlash, replete with memes, ridicule and outrage.
Gamers were quick to point out that DLSS 5 transformed the original graphics into something vastly different. Some called the visuals "AI slop" because they look like "yassified" AI-generated filters.
Many worry that DLSS 5 could deviate from a creator's specific artistic vision. Critics also fear that if this technology becomes the industry standard, video game graphics might start to look the same, losing their unique visual identity.
"Everything about this is a betrayal of these game's artistry," said YouTuber The Sphere Hunter in a post on X Monday. "Painting over handcrafted, intentional 3D art with shiny, wrinkly, sunken-in, porous, puckered, fraudulent, filtered nonsense is deeply disrespectful. If you want this, just watch gen-AI videos all day."
Countless memes mocking the tech's exaggerated features flooded the internet. Others on social media parodied the effects DLSS 5 could produce in other games.
In a Q&A on Tuesday, Huang addressed the backlash from gamers, calling them "completely wrong." Huang underlined that DLSS 5 "enhances and adds generative capability, but it doesn't change the artistic control" and that "it's in the direct control of the game developer."
The team at Digital Foundry, which specializes in game technology and hardware reviews, called it "disruptive and transformative" but was generally positive about it, though they saw some hiccups.
"[The images] looked a little bit uncanny, I would say, but definitely the overall portrayal of those characters is much more sophisticated," said Oliver Mackenzie, video producer and writer for Digital Foundry.
Bethesda's official X account replied to comments from members of Digital Foundry about Starfield and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, both published by Bethesda.
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