Wizards of the Coast have had to quell some AI-related drama after a job posting caught the attention of MTG and D&D players.
Wizards of the Coast has landed itself in hot water again after an incident in August last year in which some AI-aided artwork found its way into the Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants companion book. In response, the D&D developer outlined new guidelines for art production in which it expressly banned artists from “using AI art generation as part of their process”.
A recent job listing for a Principal AI Engineer has reignited the controversy. Fans of both Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering have expressed outrage at the posting for seemingly going back on the initial promise.
Wizards of the Coast responded quickly to the backlash in order to quell the growing dissatisfaction. Releasing a statement to ComicBook.com, Wizards of the Coast reiterated “Our stance on AI hasn’t changed”.
As a note, Wizards provided me with the following statement: “Our stance on AI hasn't changed. This job description is for a role for future video game projects. You can reference our AI FAQ here: https://t.co/cX7nb8lDM0”
— Christian Hoffer (@CHofferCBus) June 2, 2024
Responding to concerns from D&D and MTG players that the company intended to use AI art in materials for the two properties, Wizards of the Coast elaborated on the job listing. “This job description is for a role for future video game projects. You can reference our AI FAQ here,” a spokesperson explained.
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Despite the clarification, certain wording in the job description still appears to run contrary to the company’s proposed AI ban in relation to artwork. It requests someone who can “deploy systems for intelligent generation of text dialog, audio, art assets, NPC behaviors, and real-time bot frameworks”.
Fans of the company’s products are not satisfied with the response claiming that the use of AI in general is a negative. “That’s also bad. We don’t want that either,” said one tabletop player in relation to the use of AI art in video game development.
It’s a popular sentiment with other fans calling the company’s use of AI art in video games “just as bad” as any use for its tabletop and trading card products. Wizards of the Coast has yet to issue any follow-up statement.