Wizards of the Coast has once again found itself fighting accusations of using AI-created images. But instead of being accused of using AI for a Dungeons and Dragons book, people are convinced the company used AI to prompt cards for Magic: The Gathering.
On January 4, the official Magic: The Gathering Twitter account shared a photo captioned: “It’s positively shocking how good these lands look in retro frame. #MTGRavnica”
Thanks to PCGamer, we know that shortly after that was tweeted, some people began to suspect that the company had used AI yet again to promote one of its products. One user tweeted, “This looks very AI generated — with some human photoshopping over the top.” If you look through the replies, you’ll find a lot of people expressing similar sentiments.
Shortly after the original photo was posted, Magic: The Gathering made a follow-up post addressing the accusations by saying:
“We understand confusion by fans given the style being different than card art, but we stand by our previous statement. This art was created by humans and not AI.”
We understand confusion by fans given the style being different than card art, but we stand by our previous statement. This art was created by humans and not AI.
— Magic: The Gathering (@wizards_magic) January 4, 2024
As of late, Wizards of the Coast has been trying to regain fans’ trust because of the usage of AI. Last year, it was discovered that the company had used it for a sourcebook titled Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants. Shortly after that, the company released a statement saying:
“We are revising our process and updating our artist guidelines to make clear that artists must refrain from using AI art generation as part of their art creation process for developing D&D.”
As noted by En World, the company found itself in the hot seat again after a YouTuber falsely accused it of using AI for another book. Even though their accusations were proven to be fake, the damage to the company’s reputation had already been done because of its past actions.
Since then, Wizards of the Coast made it a point again to ensure it wouldn’t use AI by posting to their blog and stating:
“We require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the Magic TCG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final Magic products.”
For more Magic: The Gathering news, check out our story covering the latest collaboration with the Fallout series.
