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

However "people make the decisions and people own the creative outcomes".
Copy of Copy of Copy of pODCAST358-fr (11).png


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​

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.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

AI can create awesome images but if you want some thing exactly in the way you imagined within your head you will have to write a lot of promts and maybe to download some LoRA.

I remember reading on a news website about a military test with an AI that was assigned targets, and then others to be attacked. It didn't like having its orders changed, so it first attacked the control center, and then, after new instructions, the communicator.
Let's remember that CGI has been around for many years, but on the internet, although there are comics created by CGI, many prefer "hand-drawn art". Today there are lots of CGI animated shows but the 2D animation hasn't disappeared at all.

If you worry about a rogue supercomputer like the one from "Colossus: the Forbin Project" the solution is simple, to turn the servers off. And I suppose there will be special protocols for military computers to be disconnected from the network in case they may have been affected by a computer virus. No AI will be given the power to fight against humans because it could be hacked by terrorists to attack civilians.
 

log in or register to remove this ad

One of the AI ads during the Super Bowl was pretty much exactly targeting drudge office work. 'AI can finish out that 1000 row spreadsheet in just a few minutes.' 'AI can build that 100 slide power point.' 'AI can create the emails for the layoff notices(*).'
(*)this one wasn't in the ad spot but doesn't take much imagination to picture happening. Have to pay for AI costs somehow.

Waiting for the first product that was play tested solely by AI test bots.
Chatdev is a thing. With that said, Chris Cox gave a pretty reasonable use it as useful to teams statement that was far better than the prior absurd claim of playing d&d. with 40(?) other players who all use AI someone from wotc/hasbro made a. Couple years ago
 

"AI bull" (his words, not mine) pretty much sums it up.

My co-worker (we're both software developers) is really big on AI, and he'll always query Copilot or ChatGPT any time there's an error or bug. 9 times out of 10 it's completely off-base (and I figure it out on my own), but he won't stop crowing about how "smart" the AI is that one time that it's right. Drives me nuts.
 
Last edited:


  • Don’t use it for anything that’s going to put someone out of a job.
  • Don’t use it for anything where getting it wrong will cause problems
  • Don’t use it for anything you want to publish as your own work.
There is a hell of a lot of space in between these mantras for it to be helpful.
 

Remove ads

Remove ads

Top