Highlights
- Wizards of the Coast bans generative AI in Magic: The Gathering marketing after backlash.
- The FAQ outlines rules for artists, writers, and creatives involved with D&D and Magic.
- Policy allows AI use for concept work, storyboarding, but not final products like cards.
Wizards of the Coast, publishers of Dungeons and Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, has released a new FAQ addressing the use of generative AI in both franchises. As a controversial technology, it is an area that fans have been inquiring about. Generative AI has already been at the heart of controversy for Wizards, like when the company replaced AI-generated artwork in Bigby Presents: Glory of Giants for future printings after it was discovered AI artwork had been used.
In January, Wizards of the Coast ran into more trouble when it was found that Magic: The Gathering marketing material was using AI art. This happened after Wizards expressly said that there would be no generative AI used on Magic: The Gathering cards, and it prompted the company to revise how it handles marketing materials going forward. Dungeons and Dragons has also had major issues with AI, such as the example mentioned earlier.
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.
Wizards of the Coast published an FAQ on generative AI use within the company and its products to address these concerns. This FAQ is the official stance of Wizards regarding generative AI, and its rules regarding the field. It states: "We require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the Magic TCG and the D&D TTRPG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic or D&D products." Wizards has also banned generative AI in Magic: The Gathering marketing material after the aforementioned incident in January.
What Is and Isn't Included in Wizards of the Coast's AI Policies
The FAQ also explains how Wizards investigates whether generative AI is used in a product. While being quite vague, it mentions how it is a mixture of having a human re-reviewing art, using tools, and discussing the situation with the artist or creator in question. As Wizards of the Coast saw, false accusations of generative AI use can quickly spread, like what happened with the accusations that some of the One Dungeons and Dragons books releasing later this year were using generative AI.
Wizards also explains that the company will not be commenting on each case, as one of the primary concerns is the privacy of individuals working with the company, even if Wizards decides to no longer work with the artist going forward. Wizards further elaborates that while Hasbro may use generative AI in other products, like Trivial Pursuit, that does not mean Wizards will.
The policy elucidated by the company does have a couple of glaring holes, though. The first is the use of the phrase "final," which means that if it is used for things like storyboarding, concepts, or other work that doesn't make it to print, Wizards is perfectly fine with using generative AI. If an artist working on a Fallout Magic: The Gathering art piece used generative AI to create a depiction of a Deathclaw as it might appear on a card for reference, that is okay per this policy. The other giant loophole is the specificity of the policy, applying only to the core games of both, and thus wouldn't cover things like video games or movies.
