Nvidia's DLSS 5 Blurs Realism with Unsettling AI Slop

Nvidia has launched its latest upscaling technology, DLSS 5, touting it as a significant breakthrough in computer graphics since real-time ray tracing was introduced in 2018. However, the new feature’s effects have been met with skepticism, resulting in awkwardly transformed facial features that resemble AI-generated anomalies rather than photorealistic enhancements. The technology appears to prioritize superficial visual tweaks over nuanced character representation, rendering recognizable faces unrecognizable and imbuing them with an unsettling, artificial quality. In a demo of DLSS 5, the protagonist from Resident Evil Requiem underwent a transformation that would make her appear as if she had been digitally manipulated by a low-budget video editing software. Similarly, characters from Hogwarts Legacy were rendered looking like they had been subjected to an overly aggressive Instagram filter, while even the animated Liverpoo mascot was warped into an unidentifiable, digital mush. The implications of DLSS 5’s limitations are concerning, suggesting that Nvidia may have overemphasized its capabilities or prioritized marketing hype over actual technical achievements. As the technology continues to be refined and tested, it remains to be seen whether its creators can address these issues and deliver a more satisfying user experience.