After a Magic: The Gathering fan accused the company of supposedly using generative AI in a recent promotional image, Wizards of the Coast initially claimed that the image was entirely human-created. However, just two days later, Wizards removed the marketing post in question and admitted that generative tools were used in the image.

The image in question was of five new MTG cards (at least the bona fides of human creation were not in question) on a desk in a steampunk-flavored apothecary and bookstore. They were the filaments of a light bulb, the wiring of a desk, and the scale of a pressure gauge. This is the same way that image generation tools consistently fail to render fine details such as fingers, teeth, letters, etc.

That alone is unfortunate, but this comes after Wizards of the Coast pledged not to use AI art altogether, following the controversial use of AI art in the Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook by a longtime freelancer. Wizards initially denied that the MTG promotional image was created using generative AI tools, stating: "While we understand fans' confusion given the different style from the card art, we stand by our previous statement. This art was created by a human, not an AI."

Magic fans were not convinced, and some artists who work with Wizards of the Coast expressed alarm and disappointment. Illustrator Jason Rainville said that if Wizards were to pursue this technique despite the prior statement, he would consider another client. Meanwhile, artist Dave Rapoza declared that he was completely done working with Wizards of the Coast: "You can't blatantly use AI to promote your product while saying you are against this.

Wizards of the Coast said on Twitter that the background of the image was provided by a third-party vendor and that "some of the AI components that are appearing in industry standard tools like Photoshop, even if a human created the entire image, are not our It seems to have crept into our marketing creativity."

Wizards further elaborated in a statement on its website:

"We have already made it We have made it clear. What is now clear is that we need to update how we work with vendors on non-product creativity, such as marketing images for use in social media, to support the wonderful human ingenuity that is so important to Magic.

"Along with many others, we want to better understand if and how AI is being used in the creative process. We believe everyone would benefit from more transparency and better disclosure. While we can't promise to be perfect in such a rapidly evolving field, especially as generative AI is becoming the norm with tools like Photoshop, our goal is always to stand by human-made art and artists."

The issue of third-party artists and vendors using AI tools without disclosing as such definitely seems troubling to companies like Wizards of the Coast.

Wizards of the Coast has a real incentive to get this problem right. While rules, systems, and worldbuilding are important, one of the main things they sell in their Magic cards and tabletop sourcebooks is art. If the art that Wizards sells is devalued by shoddy AI work, and if the relationship with the illustrator deteriorates in the process, that is a major problem.

The company's initial categorical denial was upsetting, but aside from that, I think Wizards made the right decision by retracting the art, admitting that it was created with generative AI, and outlining how to avoid such mistakes in the future.

The flood of low-quality AI art on the Internet seems to be creeping into commercial use, and it feels like we are all being ordered to discern what is real and what is fake.

Sometimes it leads to false positives, as with the D&D art accused last month of being created by AI. Apex Legends, which was accused in online comments of using AI generation for key art in the recent trailer for the "Final Fantasy Rebirth" crossover event, and tablet maker Wacom, which was accused of using AI art, took down a promotional Twitter post were taken down.

With just one week to go until 2024, it is shaping up to be a very long year indeed due to the burgeoning "AI revolution."