Dungeons & Dragons is asking illustrators to stop using AI to generate artwork

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The role-playing game franchise Dungeons and Dragons states that it will not allow artists to use artificial intelligence technology to draw their cast of wizards, druids and other characters and settings.

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D&D art is meant to be imaginative. But at least one axe-wielding giant struck some fans as too odd, prompting them to take to social media to question whether it was man-made.

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Hasbro-owned D&D Beyond, which makes online tools and other companion content for the franchise, said it only learned on Saturday that an illustrator it has worked with for nearly a decade has used AI to create commissioned art for a to create an upcoming book. The franchise, which is operated by Hasbro subsidiary Wizards of the Coast, said in a statement that it has spoken to this artist and is clarifying its rules.

“He will no longer use AI for the work of the Wizards going forward,” read a post on the D&D Beyond account on X, formerly Twitter. “We are revising our process and updating our artist guidelines to clarify that artists must refrain from using AI art generation as part of their art creation process for D&D development.”

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Today’s AI-generated art often features telltale glitches, such as distorted limbs, which has caught the attention of skeptical D&D fans.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast did not respond to requests for further comment Sunday. Hasbro bought D&D Beyond last year for $146.3 million. The Rhode Island-based toy giant has owned Wizards of the Coast for more than two decades.

The graphic in question is in a forthcoming hardback book of monster descriptions and lore called Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. The digital and physical versions of the pack will be sold on the D&D website for $59.95 and is scheduled for release on August 15th.

The use of AI tools to support creative work has sparked copyright and labor rights concerns across a range of industries, fueled the Hollywood strike, prompted the music industry’s Recording Academy to revise its Grammy awards protocols, and prompted some visual artists to Suing AI companies for starting their work without their consent to create image generators anyone can use.

Hasbro rival Mattel used AI-generated imagery to come up with ideas for new Hot Wheels toy cars. However, it was not said if this was more than an experiment.