Wouldn’t it have been more courageous of the publisher, who knows a thing or two about board games, to tell the truth as soon as the promotional image appeared?

Wizards of the Coast initially said that the image below was a completely human creation, but Magic: The Gathering (MTG) fans have sharp eyes and quickly discovered that they believe it’s a case of using generative artificial intelligence. Two days later, Wizards Of The Coast deleted the tweet with the image and then admitted that AI had indeed been used. It was a pretty quick 180…

The image shows five new MTG cards on a table in a bookstore that resembles a steampunk apothecary. But in the smaller details lies the ugly truth: the filaments in the light bulbs, the wiring on the table, but the details of the manometer show that imaging technology is still far from perfect in creating the intricate details of human fingers and teeth, as well as text. However, Wizards Of The Coast has recently stated that it will not use artificial intelligence after a veteran freelancer was caught using it in a Dungeons & Dragons sourcebook.

Jason Rainville, an illustrator, initially spoke out after Wizards Of The Coast’s AI backer post, saying he would consider other sources of income if Wizards Of The Coast continued to use the technology, then backtracked when the company promised change. Dave Rapoza, on the other hand, abandoned Wizards Of The Coast en bloc. The company wrote that the background for the image came from a third-party source. According to them, several AI components show up in industry-standard tools (e.g. Photoshop), even if the final result was still done by a human. However, there is a longer explanation on their website:

“We have already made it clear that we require artists, writers, and creators who contribute to the Magic TCG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic products. It’s now clear that we need to update the way we work with vendors on creative outside of our products – such as marketing images we use on social media – to ensure that we’re supporting the amazing human ingenuity that is so important to Magic. Like so many others, we also want to better understand if and how AI is being used in the creative process. We believe that everyone benefits from greater transparency and disclosure. We can’t promise to be perfect in such a fast-moving field, especially as generative AI becomes standard in tools like Photoshop, but our goal is to always err on the side of human-made art and artists.”

The question is whether they will stick to that position.

Source: PCGamer