Wizards of the Coast admits 'we made a mistake' after confusion over AI art
Magic: the meeting maker Wizards of the Coast has been busted by fans for including AI art in its latest promotional marketing.
Two weeks into the new year, Wizards of the Coast has already apologized to some eagle-eyed fans who managed to spot signs of AI art in recent marketing materials.
“Well, we made a mistake before when we said a marketing image we posted wasn't created using AI,” Wizards of the Coast explained in a Tweet after. “As you, our dedicated community, have noticed, it appears that some of the AI components now popping up in industry-standard tools like Photoshop have crept into our marketing materials, even if a human were doing the work to create the overall image.”
I suspect the entire ad campaign was created using A/I generated imagery, which was then retouched to give it an appearance of man-made craftsmanship. pic.twitter.com/St5bXhcXfuJanuary 6, 2024
The card issuer further acknowledges that while this artwork comes from a vendor, “it's up to us to ensure we deliver on our promise to support the amazing ingenuity that makes Magic great.”
Some artists have understandably responded to this controversy with some caution. One such case is Jason Rainville, a freelance illustrator who has previously worked on Magic: the meeting. In a Tweet post Rainville explains how he will “monitor how the evaluation of their relationship with suppliers is going. And whether those advertisements are removed or replaced.”
This isn't the first time Wizards of the Coast has been accused by fans Tweet for using AI art tools. In early December 2023, some fans saw an armless dwarf in the D&D Player's Handbook. While it's still unclear if this art was generated using AI tools or if this dwarven warrior simply uses an animated shield after losing an arm in battle, it is somewhat noticeable.
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