Over the last couple of years, Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, has been involved in multiple controversies involving AI-generated artwork in Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering products. Wizards of the Coast has since banned the use of generative AI in the creation of art and text in both the TTRPG and TCG.
However, Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks recently went on the record with information seemingly to the contrary. “Inside of development, we’ve already been using AI,” Cocks said during a Goldman Sachs Communacopia tech conference in response to questions about cutting costs with AI. “I play [D&D] with probably 30 or 40 people regularly. There's not a single person who doesn't use AI somehow for either campaign development or character development or story ideas. That's a clear signal that we need to be embracing it." He proposed ideas like using AI to create stories, to let users generate content, and to streamline the new player experience not only in Dungeons and Dragons, but “also multiple of our brands.”
August 2023 – AI art is detected in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Wizards of the Coast removes illustrations and affirms its stance against AI art.
October 2023 – Replacement art for Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants is revealed.
December 2023 – Art from the 2024 Player’s Handbook is erroneously accused of being AI-generated. Wizards of the Coast reaffirms its stance against AI art.
January 2024 – AI art discovered in Magic: The Gathering ad. Wizards of the Coast denies AI was used, then admits it was wrong a couple of days later.
May 2024 – Wizards of the Coast updates its contributor policy to ban AI in the use of finished products. Simultaneously, Hasbro posts job listing for a principal AI engineer for Wizards of the Coast.
During the same talk, Cocks assured the audience Hasbro would use AI responsibly and continue to pay creators appropriately for their works, but few artists believe that is possible. To train generative AI to create art or text, developers must train it on existing works. This has led many creatives to denounce the use of AI, as it is plagiaristic and threatens their livelihoods, since it is faster and cheaper to use than hiring actual artists and writers.
“Inside of development, we’ve already been using AI... I play [D&D] with probably 30 or 40 people regularly. There's not a single person who doesn't use AI somehow for either campaign development or character development or story ideas. That's a clear signal that we need to be embracing it."
Not long after the conference, Wizards of the Coast put out a new FAQ reaffirming its anti-AI policy. “Human beings are fallible, whether it is a conglomerate of human beings (like a company) or a single human being (like an artist),” the conclusion states. “We have been consistent in our position with respect to generative AI in Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons art, and we want our community to know that we are working to ensure they can see us deliberating on how best to meet that commitment, even if we all occasionally stumble along the way.”
Like the company’s previous statements, this assertion seems to go directly against Cocks’ words during the conference. With this apparent clash of intentions between the Hasbro CEO and Wizards of the Coast’s vision for AI’s future in Dungeons and Dragons and beyond, fans should be sure to make their own opinions known so that the games continue to develop in a way they are happy to support.
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Source: https://gamerant.com/hasbro-ceo-ai-use-confirmation-dungeons-and-dragons-magic-the-gathering/
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