Highlights
- Wizards of the Coast responds to its latest AI controversy.
- Wizards of the Coast is hiring a Principal AI Engineer.
- Wizards of the Coast plans to utilize AI for future video game projects, with several in active development.
After a particularly damning job listing popped up on its website, Wizards of the Coast is responding to allegations of using AI to help create its beloved tabletop games. This follows similar concerns raised against the company beginning late last year after it was discovered that Wizards of the Coast had used generative AI to create images for the Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants sourcebook for Dungeons & Dragons.
Last month, the company released an FAQ addressing its use of generative AI in the Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering franchises after another controversy earlier this year. In January, it was revealed that the marketing materials for Magic used AI art despite the publisher promising that the technology wouldn’t be used in the trading card game.
Wizards of the Coast Admits to Using AI Art
Wizards of the Coast responds to yet another AI art controversy, admitting the controversial technology was unknowingly used in some of its marketing.
The job listing in question is for a Principal AI Engineer, with Wizards of the Coast seeking someone responsible for designing and building systems "for intelligent generation of text dialog, audio, art assets, NPC behaviors, and real time bot frameworks." Anxious tabletop fans were quick to assume that the company was going back on its promise, but in a statement given to ComicBook, the Hasbro subsidiary promises that its stance on AI “hasn’t changed.”
Wizards of the Coast Will Utilize AI in Video Games, Not Tabletop Games
A spokesperson for Wizards went on to explain that the position is for future video game projects, of which several are in active development. During The Game Awards in December, the company's new game division, Archetype Entertainment, unveiled Exodus, an upcoming story-driven sci-fi RPG starring Matthew McConaughey. In 2022, Invoke Studios was said to be working on a AAA game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.
More and more companies have shown interest in experimenting with AI, inciting backlash within major portions of the gaming community. In April, Treyarch, a developer behind the Call of Duty games, posted a job listing mentioning generative AI tools. A report from Unity recently revealed that 62 percent of game studios use AI in some form, though this is often for prototype builds and concepts, not finished works.
Chris Cocks, the former president of Wizards of the Coast and current Hasbro CEO, isn’t shutting the door on the technology just yet, stating that decades of art from D&D and Magic: The Gathering could potentially be used as sources for AI learning databases. Last year, Magic head designer Mark Rosewater said that someday, AI could eventually be used for card design. Eagle-eyed fans have been keeping watch following the company’s many slip-ups on the AI front, and many fear that this won't be the last time.
