Many large companies want to maximize their profits at any cost. Something that they have found in generative AIs that benefits them particularly. If we don’t pay attention to any kind of ethical or artistic value, as long as their use is not more strictly regulated, many CEOs and executives will see them as a way to generate cheap content. That’s what has recently happened with Hasbro. With as negative opposition as one would expect in this situation.
It all started on March 1st, when Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks gave an interview to Venture Beat where he made some potentially controversial statements. The worst of them was that with 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons stories and 35 years of Magic: The Gathering cards, Hasbro has a very deep and interesting vein to mine to feed generative AI. Literally tens of millions of words and over 15,000 cards that, in his own words, “we can exploit.”
Of course, these words did not sit well with fans of both Wizards of the Coast franchises, owner of Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering, and a subsidiary of Hasbro. Something that was noticed on social media in a radical way, but that ended up reaching further.
According to Denman Rooke, an artist working on Magic: The Gathering, he and other artists from the company wrote an open letter to Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro expressing their strong opposition to Generative AI. They state that if they were to feed the AI with their work, they would immediately stop working for Wizards of the Coast. This is something they do not wish to do, as they are passionate about their work, but they are willing to do it for the sake of their own art.
Wizards of the Coast’s response was not long in coming. Shortly after, the company replied that Wizards is also against the use of generative AI for any form of art. This has been demonstrated when, in the recent past, they worked to remove an illustration generated in this way that managed to pass their quality filter.
Unfortunately, the matter did not end here. Because some dissatisfied social media users took the opportunity to resurface a comment from the head designer of Magic: The Gathering, Mark Rosewater.
On his Tumblr page where he answers user questions, Blogatog, Rosewater was asked about his opinion on using artificial intelligence specifically to assist with game design and balancing. To this, Rosewater replied that he believes artificial intelligence will be a tool that will be used one day, but that there is still a long way to go until that moment arrives. Some users decided to interpret this in the worst possible way, associating it with Cocks’ position on AI.
Of course, there are clear differences between what Rosewater and Cocks say. The former does not say that it is desirable to use AI nor is it in his power to make the final decision of whether it is used or not. Something that does not happen with the latter. Similarly, not all uses of AI are harmful to workers and the public. Graphic designers, artists, scientists, and programmers have been using AI for years to assist them in their work, and it would be reasonable if there came a point where it was also possible for board game designers. Because while all generative AIs are AIs, not all AIs are generative AIs. And only the latter are harmful.
In any case, the pressure on Hasbro seems to have worked. On March 19th, the American company issued a statement stating that they are responsible for using these generative AIs in a way that does not harm artists. That is why they have given their teams the ability to decide if these tools are beneficial for the business, the fans, and the community.
All this shows the extremely turbulent moment we are living in. Generative AIs seem to be here to stay, at least until they are regulated by governments, but the reaction to the CEO of Hasbro’s words shows that it doesn’t have to be something that happens if we don’t want it to. Now we just need to not demonize an entire technology because of one harmful aspect of it.
