Gamers react with overwhelming disgust to DLSS 5’s generative AI glow-ups

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/gamers-react-with-overwhelming-disgust-to-dlss-5s-generative-ai-glow-ups/

40 Comments

  1. Rabo_McDongleberry on

    I’d rather have my ram and video cards back please. None of us asked for this AI slop bullshit that they keep trying to shove. 

    Dear companies. Listen to your customers and not tech bros. None of us want this bullshit.

  2. floyd_underpants on

    I don’t know who needs to hear this, but AI imagery is freaking ugly. I’ve come to instinctively hate the look and feel of it.

  3. I just can’t wrap my head around DF’s video, like how can you look at those demos and say almost nothing but good things about it. What a way to utterly tarnish your reputation.

  4. everything is becoming so fake. This is just a new level of Face Filters in our games now.

  5. vomitHatSteve on

    I don’t know why people are so upset? I love having all art be run through the “standardized and professional” filter so that as little trace of the intended vision can get through! Can we replace the script, VAs, sfx, and gameplay loops in real time too? I would just prefer not to experience anything that could be interpreted as human expression, you know?

  6. justinkimball on

    On top of that, this glow up required not one but two 5090s: one that was running the game, and the other solely dedicated to DLSS 5.

    In addition to the exceedingly expensive DDR5 and SSD prices end-users are dealing with, you need to buy two $4000 GPUs to get what they’re showing off here.

    This is a feature that nobody wants, and nobody can afford, all powered by the same shit that’s making RAM and SSDs unaffordable.

    If team green was shooting for their Marie Antionette moment, they sure hit the mark.

  7. Can’t wait to not play these games on the PC I can’t afford now because these games exist.

  8. I just “love” how it completely hallucinates some details. Like, is Grace not actually blonde, now? The AI version suggests she has pretty dark hair naturally.

  9. Psychostickusername on

    “we’ve heard your concerns, and we’re going to shovel this shit regardless” is the response I’m expecting

  10. _The_Last_Airbender_ on

    Is It togglable at all? Or is it purely forced? Or does it differ from game to game?

  11. On a plus side

    At least the younger generation relate to gaming and might actually see AI for the destructive bag of shit that it is and hopefully steer clear of the iceberg

    I just hope the actions of these companies that have sold out for shareholders are remembered by consumers and they suffer for it, im tired of being treated like a guinea pig in every aspect of my life, these companies throwing away ethics and integrity for coin and then getting away with it, always

  12. My big concern besides the ugly AI look is consistency. Will the AI make a character look different when you see them again in different lighting or if they are muddy, bloody, etc… anything that slightly changes their base look.

  13. You can’t make everyone a ‘Handsome Squidward’ and expect it to be ok with gamers!

  14. It’s okay no one will be able to afford the hardware to dlassify the shit out of everything anyway

  15. AI imaging is so “plasticky” looking. And that is on purpose, it is meant to generate a more overtly sexually appealing image regardless.

  16. I play games for their art and design style, not hyper-realistic uncanny valley graphics. Not everyone wants more realistic graphics, that isn’t what makes a game good.

  17. Having the developers go through all the work of texturing, shading, rendering and optimizing their games just to have it chewed up and spat out by an AI feels disrespectful.

  18. Apprehensive-Law-923 on

    No one wants this AI shit that every fuckng tech company is pushing on us

  19. MrThickDick2023 on

    If I was a developer, I would be so upset to have my style, artwork, etc butchered and turned into AI slop. Completely changes the character and feel of things.

  20. The generative AI made everybody look much older, and even made some characters different from their original design.

  21. epicfail1994 on

    It’s so dead and lifeless. The screenshots of this that I’ve seen have all looked actively worse.

    It did seem to make some nice environmental changes, but the characters are so god awful that I don’t want it anywhere near my games

  22. Ninevehenian on

    I do like how it works on the hairline, the nose, the knuckles and the throat. It does anatomic details decently.

    But it also smacks on fuller lips, heavily made up eyes and extra shade near boob. It fights for the attractiveness and polish, which becomes too much and too stilted, like a bad nosejob.

  23. StillbornPartyHat on

    I’d call it deserved, DLSS should have been rejected from the very start but AAA consumers let Nvidia get their foot in the door with fake render resolution and now the whole rendering pipeline is going to be fraudulent.

  24. pleasegivemepatience on

    I absolutely hate the fake ass looks of AI-created characters, this is a massive downgrade for every single one of these games.

  25. It looks like AI slop and they only showed us footage of it while standing still, or next to it.

    I would love to see how badly it mangles everything during *actual* gameplay of any kind.

    It’s just more AI shareholder hype bollocks.

  26. Shooter_McGavin_666 on

    It looks exponential better. Of course we all know that people see “AI” and get butt hurt.

  27. Nvidia has been banging the “full neural rendering” drum for years now. They have repeatedly stated that their goal is to get to that “DLSS On” image without needing the “DLSS Off” image to ever exist.