Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks Is Talking About AI in D&D Again

Chris Cocks, the CEO of Hasbro, is talking about the usage of AI in Dungeons & Dragons again. In a recent interview with Semafor, Cocks once again brought up potential usage of AI in D&D and other Hasbro brands. Cocks described himself as an "AI bull" and offered up a potential subscription service that uses AI to enrich D&D campaigns as a way to integrate AI. The full section of Semafor's interview is below:

Smartphone screens are not the toy industry’s only technology challenge. Cocks uses artificial intelligence tools to generate storylines, art, and voices for his D&D characters and hails AI as “a great leveler for user-generated content.”

Current AI platforms are failing to reward creators for their work, “but I think that’s solvable,” he says, describing himself as “an AI bull” who believes the technology will extend the reach of Hasbro’s brands. That could include subscription services letting other Dungeon Masters enrich their D&D campaigns, or offerings to let parents customize Peppa Pig animations. “It’s supercharging fandom,” he says, “and I think that’s just net good for the brand.”

The D&D design team and others involved with D&D at Wizards of the Coast have repeatedly stood by a statement posted back in 2023 that said that D&D was made by humans for humans. The full, official stance on AI in D&D by the D&D team can be found below.

For 50 years, D&D has been built on the innovation, ingenuity, and hard work of talented people who sculpt a beautiful, creative game. That isn't changing. Our internal guidelines remain the same with regards to artificial intelligence tools: We require artists, writers, and creatives contributing to the D&D TTRPG to refrain from using AI generative tools to create final D&D products. We work with some of the most talented artists and creatives in the world, and we believe those people are what makes D&D great.

 

[Stalker0]

That is possible, but I am not sure AI is really the best technology to do many of those things. It seems to me it is more a buzzword than actual knowledge of the tech that will be implemented.

I use AI a lot in my games nowadays and I can say. When it comes to good.....its great. If I just need some decent npc portraits, a few reasonable magical items for a hoard the party stumbled on, or the backstory for a throwaway npc the party got a sudden interest it, it is rock solid. Now yes you have to read it and edit/filter sometimes, but for the most part it is excellent.

But if your looking for great, aka the really slick NPCs that the partys will remember forever, the really cool plots that make players go "wow", it is not there yet. It tends to be a bit repetitive in its ideas, good for fill in, not good for the highlight reels.

 

[dave2008]

I use AI a lot in my games nowadays and I can say. When it comes to good.....its great. If I just need some decent npc portraits, a few reasonable magical items for a hoard the party stumbled on, or the backstory for a throwaway npc the party got a sudden interest it, it is rock solid. Now yes you have to read it and edit/filter sometimes, but for the most part it is excellent.

But if your looking for great, aka the really slick NPCs that the partys will remember forever, the really cool plots that make players go "wow", it is not there yet. It tends to be a bit repetitive in its ideas, good for fill in, not good for the highlight reels.

I don't disagree with you, but I don't even know that this is were Cocks is going. I think he seems to be conflating digital tools and AI and what WotC, and really DnD Beyond, will offer / use.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I want AI to help me with drudgery. When I can't figure out why my code at work isn't working, asking AI for help is a whole lot faster than spending 30 minutes combing Stack Overflow for the answer to that question. I do not want AI to replace my creative efforts. Those are a joy, and one of the ways I get to express myself. If I'm stuck on an adventure idea, I want to go look at a book, look at art, ask someone for advice, think it over myself.

 

[overgeeked]

AI, by its nature, is a subscription-based model. With how the tech works right now, you can't offer it up as anything other than a subscription.

That's inherent to capitalism, not this technology (or any other really). China recently released an open-source AI called DeepSeek. It's free. The code is freely available online. So clearly it's possible.

 

[Scribe]

On the one hand, Hasbro has made it clear that their future is in digital subscriptions. That the treadmill of endless edition books should give way to a suite of online tools that players and DM use and enjoy (and pay a regular fee for).

They are so late to the subscription train it isnt even funny.

Anyway, I hope folks can find joy in their experience with Wizards going forward.

 

[Oofta]

I use AI a lot in my games nowadays and I can say. When it comes to good.....its great. If I just need some decent npc portraits, a few reasonable magical items for a hoard the party stumbled on, or the backstory for a throwaway npc the party got a sudden interest it, it is rock solid. Now yes you have to read it and edit/filter sometimes, but for the most part it is excellent.

But if your looking for great, aka the really slick NPCs that the partys will remember forever, the really cool plots that make players go "wow", it is not there yet. It tends to be a bit repetitive in its ideas, good for fill in, not good for the highlight reels.

A while back I wanted to borrow the idea of head crabs from the Half-Life games. If you don't know what they are, they're basically small alien parasite that effectively eats people's brains and turns them into zombies. Except my head crabs were created by a follower of Lollth so I wanted actual spiders replacing the heads of the zombies. A few prompts to an AI image generator and I had some images I could show the players. It added to my game but it is also something I never would have paid anyone for. I see AI as something that can help me be a better DM but I will never want it to completely replace me.

But out of curiosity what tools have you been using?

 

[Alzrius]

They are so late to the subscription train it isnt even funny.

They're not late to the subscription train, they're late to figuring out how to make it viable for themselves. Remember Gleemax and the DDI?

 

[Scribe]

They're not late to the subscription train, they're late to figuring out how to make it viable for themselves. Remember Gleemax and the DDI?

If they couldnt figure it out then, while we have now many many (too many!) subscription services all fighting for the scraps of our ever decreasing wealth...

 

[Stalker0]

I don't disagree with you, but I don't even know that this is were Cocks is going. I think he seems to be conflating digital tools and AI and what WotC, and really DnD Beyond, will offer / use.

Nah he is definately thinking AI. Random item X made with AI, being able to write in an AI request to generate X. A character portrait generator with AI...etc etc.

I think its all part of the plan....and frankly should be a part of the plan. Again having digital tools and not being considering AI is a death sentence in today's business climate.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

That’s a pretty hit and miss way to use it too, because LLMs very frequently give flat-out wrong answers to such queries.

For a real world question where the answer matters that it is a problem and possibly for an actual article intended for publication. for a home game, what is the issue?