D&D General Hasbro CEO Says AI Integration Has Been "A Clear Success"

We've known for some time that Hasbro CEO--and former president of Wizards of the Coast--Chris Cocks is an avid AI supporter and enthusiast. He previously noted that of the 30-40 people he games with regularly, "there's not a single person who doesn't use AI somehow for either campaign development or character development or story ideas." In a 2025 interview he described himself as an "AI bull".

In Hasbro's latest earnings call, Cocks briefly addressed the use of AI within the company. While he mentions Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast and the digital studio teams, he doesn't specifically namecheck Dungeons & Dragons. However, he does tout Hasbro's AI integration as a "clear success", referring primarily to non-creative operations such as finances, supply chains, and general productivity enhancements, and emphasises that "people make the decisions and people own the creative outcomes". He also notes that individual teams choose whether or not to use AI.

So while it is clear that AI is deeply embedded in Hasbro's workflows, it is not clear to what extent that applies to Dungeons & Dragons. WotC has indicated multiple times that it will not use AI artwork, and its freelance contracts explicitly prohibit its use. The company also removed AI-generated artwork in 2023's Bigby's Presents: Glory of the Giants.

Before I close, I want to address AI, and how we're using it at Hasbro. We're taking a human-centric creator-led approach. AI is a tool that helps our teams move faster and focus on higher-value work, but people make the decisions and people own the creative outcomes. Teams also have choice in how they use it, including not to use it at all when it doesn't fit the work or the brand. We're beyond experimentation. We're deploying AI across financial planning, forecasting, order management, supply chain operations, training and everyday productivity. Under enterprise controls and clear guidelines around responsible use and IP protection. Anyone who knows me knows I'm an enthusiastic AI user and that mindset extends across the enterprise. We're partnering with best-in-class platforms, including Google Gemini, OpenAI and 11 labs to embed AI into workflows where it adds real value. The impact is tangible. Over the next year, we anticipate these workflows will free up more than 1 million hours of lower-value work, and we're reinvesting that capacity into innovation, creativity and serving fans. Our portfolio of IP and the creators and talent behind it are the foundation of this strategy. Great IP plus great storytelling is durable as technology evolves, and it positions us to benefit from disruption rather than being displaced by it.

In toys, AI-assisted design, paired with 3D printing has fundamentally improved our process. We've reduced time from concept to physical prototype by roughly 80%, enabling faster iteration and more experimentation with human judgment and human craft determining what ultimately gets selected and turned into a final product. We believe the winners in AI will be companies that combine deep IP, creative talent and disciplined deployment. That's exactly where Hasbro sits. As we enter 2026, we view playing to Win and more importantly, the execution behind it by our Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast and digital studio teams as a clear success.

- Chris Cocks, Hasbro CEO​

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Wizards of the Coast's most recent statement on AI said "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."

A small survey of about 500 users right here on EN World in April 2025 indicated that just over 60% of users would not buy D&D products made with AI.

 

[FrogReaver]

Art used to be limited by the people that could create it- that made it special. It was a finite thing. Now AI can create essentially unlimited art (I guess it's finite/limited by our ability to produce electricity to run it).

One need only believe in a god for this to be untrue. For those that believe, art has always been infinite and derived from god and humanities attempts at art no matter how moving are but crude reflections.

So if you call AI products art, you're basically taking the shine off of art itself since it's no longer limited by the people that can create it (yes there are a ton of people on the planet, a ton of artists, but they're much more finite than what can now be created by AI).

Anything I or anyone creates is art. It’s just mostly bad art. In that sense art isn’t nearly as finite as you claim. Decent to good art is (or was before ai). But not art itself.

So is it art? I guess it depends on whether you think art has to be created by someone(s), your own definition of art.
But for most folk the answer is probably going to be that it is art; especially because it's getting harder and harder to tell if something was created by AI or not.

Art by all definitions needs a creator but not a human creator.

And that kind of sucks if you think art is special because it needed someone to take the time, effort, and skill to create it.

Even in the age of mass market art, there’s still many choosing to do crafts by hand either for customization or appreciation of the old process. Many people even pay money for these things. Time, effort and skill can be valued without it being the only way. Human time, effort and skill can be a major consideration without requiring it in the definition of art.

 

[HatWearingFool]

If you can't create a low-level NPC that might be interesting to the party, you are probably a crap DM. Any human can follow that prompt.

I could give you six of those in the next 12 minutes and I haven't had coffee yet.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a great DM, but if someone sent me this out of the blue:

"Create a low-level NPC that the party might meet, one who has no connections to any established lore or plot, but is merely interesting."

I’d have questions…
1) what genre is this for? What kind of characters are appropriate (person from a town, hermit in the woods, scientist from a big city), where will the players meet this character….
2) what does low level mean in this context. Are talking about meta game actually low “levels” or do we mean low level like peasant vs king or street thug?
3) if low-level means mechanics instead of setting what system are you using.
4) do you need a backstory, stat block, both?

 

[Some Dude]

AI isn't art any more than buying fast food is cooking.

 

[FrogReaver]

AI isn't art any more than buying fast food is cooking.

Wouldn’t art be more analogous to food and painting more to cooking.

 

[Clint_L]

I think "slop" might have different meanings to different people. Or different connotations. Or different impacts.

Art used to be limited by the people that could create it- that made it special. It was a finite thing. Now AI can create essentially unlimited art (I guess it's finite/limited by our ability to produce electricity to run it).
So if you call AI products art, you're basically taking the shine off of art itself since it's no longer limited by the people that can create it (yes there are a ton of people on the planet, a ton of artists, but they're much more finite than what can now be created by AI).

So is it art? I guess it depends on whether you think art has to be created by someone(s), your own definition of art.
But for most folk the answer is probably going to be that it is art; especially because it's getting harder and harder to tell if something was created by AI or not.
And that kind of sucks if you think art is special because it needed someone to take the time, effort, and skill to create it.

I was specifically asking about the image above. I’m not the best miniatures painter but I’m solid, have spent decades at it, and put hours into that one. Whoever designed that miniature for Archon is certainly a talented artist. And I think we can agree that the airship is the clear focal point. Does adding an AI generated background make it “slop” or not art?

My point is that these are not hypothetical issues. AI art is always the result of human collaboration, so drawing hard lines about what is art becomes very difficult unless you are willing to also throw out a lot of what we have always called art. Is the cover of Sgt. Pepper art?

 

[Dire Bare]

I was specifically asking about the image above. I’m not the best miniatures painter but I’m solid, have spent decades at it, and put hours into that one. Whoever designed that miniature for Archon is certainly a talented artist. And I think we can agree that the airship is the clear focal point. Does adding an AI generated background make it “slop” or not art?

My point is that these are not hypothetical issues. AI art is always the result of human collaboration, so drawing hard lines about what is art becomes very difficult unless you are willing to also throw out a lot of what we have always called art. Is the cover of Sgt. Pepper art?

Good questions.

Maybe declaring art that incorporates AI generated elements "not art" isn't helpful. But to me, it is problematic. It certainly isn't black-and-white, your image shared above actually doesn't bother me overmuch, and I understand (I think) why you created it.

But the use of AI generated art or artistic elements leaves me uncomfortable, even in casual situations like the above. We each draw the line on what is acceptable use of AI generative tools in different places, but I'm already overwhelmed with AI slop in so many corners of life that I think I'm developing a mental allergy to it completely.