As companies continue to push for AI adoption, employees are left worrying about losing their jobs to the tech. For many workers, such fears have become reality, as companies in various industries have announced layoffs to “boost efficiency”. This very much translates to replacing them with bots, despite any assurances that humans are still valued. In the latest string of AI-related dismissals, the English translator for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 claims that the game’s developer will be relying on AI for future translation work.
In a recent post on the r/kingdomcome subreddit, Max Hejtmánek revealed that he was fired “with no forewarning” from Warhorse Studios. According to the post, the Czech-based developer informed Hejtmánek that his role would become obsolete as all translations will use AI.
Cutting corners to cut costs
Up until this point, he had been working for the company for around four years, providing translations for Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and its DLCs. His contributions included dialogues, quest logs, and item names, among other things. As Hejtmánek put it, those who have played the game in English will undoubtedly have seen his work.
One can probably guess the reason for the layoff, but Hejtmánek spelled it out in his post. Apparently, the move is part of an effort to “make the company more effective” and “save finances”. Hejtmánek noted that the subject of AI-powered translations had cropped up in discussions at Warhorse Studios in the past, to which he had “strongly and vocally” expressed his opposition.
This is not the first instance of a company relying on AI for translations. YouTube uses the tech for automatic dubbing, though one can argue it’s a practical decision to help content creators reach a wider audience. Meanwhile, Amazon had to remove its AI English dubs for Banana Fish and other anime over their abysmal quality.
Of course, for now it’s hard to say how far Warhorse Studios’ AI use will extend and how it will shake out. And while the subreddit moderators have confirmed Hejtmánek’s identity, his claims are unproven at this point.
Defending AI in the creative space
It is worth noting that this development comes shortly after Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 creative director Daniel Vávra came to the defence of NVIDIA’s DLSS 5. Vávra, who co-founded the studio, asserted that the technology will improve and that there is “no way haters will stop this”. And prior to this, he had written an X post saying that “AI is here to stay”. He went on to detail how the technology could help anyone create games with fewer resources at a lower cost.
In the post, which according to the director was translated to English using AI, Vávra explained that he hated how games take “7 years and 300 people and tens of millions of dollars” to create. He then stated that he was in favour of AI if it helped him realise his ideas faster.
Of course, Vávra may be an individual and his opinions may not necessarily reflect the company’s stance on AI as a whole. However, his statements are emblematic of how and why creative industries have continued to embrace the technology. Aside from viewing it as a cost-cutting measure, companies consider it as a way to eliminate “superfluous” work. And by extension, the workers who do it.
On one hand, this sort of makes sense. If the AI can perform a specific task as well as a human at a fraction of the cost, then relying on the AI seems more logical. However, whether or not the AI is as capable is a contentious subject. Sure, people make mistakes, but so do bots.
No more room for humans
But perhaps these issues are of little concern. While many creatives point out the shortcomings, the AI supporters think the technology will keep improving. Even Vávra’s defence of DLSS 5 acknowledges that its existing iteration is uncanny. Whether you agree with them or not, Vávra’s posts have some grain of truth to it: AI is here to stay. Not necessarily because people want it, but because companies continue to insist on its use.
And it’s employees like Hejtmánek that pay the price. In his post, Hejtmánek stated that he feels “incredibly betrayed” by the company management. He also clarified that he is not looking to get his job back, but noted that he refuses to stay silent about his experience.
(Source: Reddit, Daniel Vávra via X [1], [2])
