Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks Talks AI Usage in D&D [UPDATED!]

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks is convinced that the Dungeons & Dragons franchise will support some kind of AI usage in the future. Speaking today at a Goldman Sachs event, Cocks spoke about how AI products could soon support Dungeons & Dragons and other Hasbro brands. Asked about whether AI has the potential to "bend the cost curve" in terms of entertainment development or digital gaming, and how it's being used in the toy and content industries, Cocks said the following:

"Inside of development, we've already been using AI. It's mostly machine-learning-based AI or proprietary AI as opposed to a ChatGPT approach. We will deploy it significantly and liberally internally as both a knowledge worker aid and as a development aid. I'm probably more excited though about the playful elements of AI. If you look at a typical D&D player....I play with probably 30 or 40 people regularly. There's not a single person who doesn't use AI somehow for either campaign development or character development or story ideas. That's a clear signal that we need to be embracing it. We need to do it carefully, we need to do it responsibly, we need to make sure we pay creators for their work, and we need to make sure we're clear when something is AI-generated. But the themes around using AI to enable user-generated content, using AI to streamline new player introduction, using AI for emergent storytelling, I think you're going to see that not just our hardcore brands like D&D but also multiple of our brands."

Wizards of the Coast representatives has repeatedly said that Dungeons & Dragons is a game made by people for people, as multiple AI controversies has surrounded the brand and its parent company. Wizards updated its freelance contracts to explicitly prohibit use of AI and has pulled down AI-generated artwork that was submitted for Bigby's Presents: Glory of the Giants in 2023 after they learned it was made using AI tools.

A FAQ related to AI specifically notes that "Hasbro has a vast portfolio of 1900+ brands of which Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons are two – two very important, cherished brands. Each brand is going to approach its products differently. What is in the best interest of Trivial Pursuit is likely quite different than that of Magic: The Gathering or Dungeons & Dragons." This statement acknowledges that Hasbro may use AI for other brands, while also stating that Wizards is trying to keep AI-generated artwork away from the game. However, while Wizards seems to want to keep AI away from D&D and Magic, their parent company's CEO seems to think that AI and D&D aren't naturally opposed.

---

UPDATE -- Greg Tito, who was WotC's communications director until recently, commented on BlueSky: "I'm deeply mistrustful of AI and don't want people using it anywhere near my D&D campaigns."

 

[irrg]

I've been spending wayyy too much time thinking about LLMs so while I wasn't exactly summoned (I got the link to the article) I'm getting closer to setting my rules for AI use.

I am…actually not anti-AI. But I want 1. ethically sourced training data and 2. only use AI for things that no one wants to do. Teach AI to do my laundry. Teach AI to write my unit tests. Don't teach AI how to write, or how to draw, because those are joyous things that should be left the %$*()# alone.

I'm an engineer and we're using AI in a recently introduced workflow at work and it's perfect—90%+ precision on work that our clients literally despise doing, making them happy. (manual entry).

AI can have value if it's ethically sourced (pretty much most of them aren't) and it's actually doing a chore. Creating NPCs…if you don't enjoy creating NPCs, and you need an AI, maybe…you're not the best person for GMing?

[asbestos suit ON]

 

[Sorcerers Apprentice]

This is an attempt to find a problem for this solution.

AI has many uses. "What color pants do bugs on Athas wear" ain't one of them.

"Which demon lords have personally interacted with Elminster in the past" might be a more interesting question if you're writing a story involving Elminster and demons though, and good luck trying to answer that with ctrl-f.

Once writers have this kind information available, they will no doubt find many uses for it. Maybe the current writers would be more eager to care as much about older lore as the fans do if it was easier to find information in it?

 

[Incenjucar]

Even just helping writers avoid accidental lore contradictions would lower the blood pressure of some of the better-read fans.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

"Which demon lords have personally interacted with Elminster in the past" might be a more interesting question if you're writing a story involving Elminster and demons though, and good luck trying to answer that with ctrl-f.

Boolean searches are pretty old technology and can definitely do that.

Once writers have this kind information available, they will no doubt find many uses for it. Maybe the current writers would be more eager to care as much about older lore as the fans do if it was easier to find information in it?

Maybe. But again, this software isn't free. Can you make the argument that AI will generate more money than it'll cost to purchase and implement?

And they could do more with lore and nostalgia now. (Given that they're putting the cartoon characters in everything possible, I'd argue they're already doing a lot.)

I don't think "we just don't know whether Elminster went on a double date with an obscure 1E demon lord" is what's holding them back. And if they want to have Elminster to have a previously unknown bit of backstory, they'd just write it.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Even just helping writers avoid accidental lore contradictions would lower the blood pressure of some of the better-read fans.

What about WotC's behavior over the past five years suggests that's a priority for them?

 

[Incenjucar]

What about WotC's behavior over the past five years suggests that's a priority for them?

That's exactly why the technology would be helpful. Zero Effort is easier to sell than Some Effort.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That's exactly why the technology would be helpful. Zero Effort is easier to sell than Some Effort.

The fact that they don't care about it is why they would be motivated to spend money on it? This is a novel sales pitch.

 

[Incenjucar]

The fact that they don't care about it is why they would be motivated to spend money on it? This is a novel sales pitch.

It would likely be a trivial cost. Depends on the LLM and plan they use, but it could easily be a rounding error if they're already paying for it for other things.

 

[cbwjm]

Yesterday I plugged in a bunch of rules into chatgpt to help me quickly generate old school xp charts. It did provide python code that I could have used (but I don't know how to use python) and I can off course do that math myself, but it is so much easier just entering a number and having the system calculate things.

Something I think would be great is what's been mentioned here, entering the past lore into an AI model. Ctrl+F can work sure, but if I can ask for the complete history of the Dale lands and get everything written in a single consolidated package, that would be way nicer than using ctrl+f or even a google-like search engine.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Something I think would be great is what's been mentioned here, entering the past lore into an AI model. Ctrl+F can work sure, but if I can ask for the complete history of the Dale lands and get everything written in a single consolidated package, that would be way nicer than using ctrl+f or even a google-like search engine.

I'm not a big fan of the Forgotten Realms Wiki generally, but doesn't this already exist?

Dalelands

The Dalelands, also referred to as the Dales, was a region in north Faerûn of dense forests and bountiful, rolling farmlands.[1] It comprised a loosely-organized group of countries called dales that were as diverse as they were independent.[4] The Dalelands were located around and partially...

forgottenrealms.fandom.com