Wizards of the Coast is hiring a senior AI engineer for customer-facing features

Hot off the heels of Hasbro announcing a new AI studio, WotC--the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons--is advertising a vacancy on LinkedIn for a senior AI engineer.

The advertisement talks about customer facing features, AI tech in products, and systems for player assistance, tutorials, and NPC behaviours.

Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks has talked frequently about the use of AI in Hasbro's workflows as a whole, lauding AI integration as a "clear success", and describing himself as an "AI Bull". WotC has always maintained that its two main products, Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: the Gathering, would not use the technology, and has previously removed artwork from products when it has transpired that they were created with AI tools. The publisher'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." Chris Cocks himself said earlier this year that there are "some brands that the audience, the creators, just don’t want it, so we don’t even have it in our pipelines for our video games or for Magic: The Gathering, or D&D."

However, this job advertisement is clearly posted by WotC specifically, and talks about customer facing features and NPC behaviours. While that doesn't necessarily point to AI-created D&D books or artwork, it does strongly imply that AI-powered tools might be appearing in customer-facing locations such as D&D Beyond, rather than just behind-the-scenes project management and workflow processes.

Emphasis highlights by Faith Elisabeth Lilley
​

 

[VashVet]

There are definitions that have to be met for something to be legally classified as art. What the artist or beholder want to consider as art is, from a purely legal perspective, irrelevant.

 

[SkidAce]

There are definitions that have to be met for something to be legally classified as art. What the artist or beholder want to consider as art is, from a purely legal perspective, irrelevant.

While mostly true, laws are "theoretically"* created by society, which is the sum of artists and beholders, therefore a law concerning art is in fact, society's viewpoint and totally relevant.





*in an ideal society, not withstanding power dynamics and politics, not to be mentioned henceforth...


.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

'Waving fist against AI for stealing income from creators, while having stolen large quantities of music, movies and game pdfs for the last 30+ years, since Napster.'

 

[OB1]

Children of Strife - book four in his amazing Children of Time series. It just came out.

It explores AI in different ways, as well as the extent to which minds can be replicated, digitally or otherwise.

Was just looking for a new audible book, going to check this out!

 

[Misanthrope Prime]

There are definitions that have to be met for something to be legally classified as art. What the artist or beholder want to consider as art is, from a purely legal perspective, irrelevant.

 

[Xeviat]

Full 3D virtual worlds AI generated and run RPGs are inevitable.

They couldn't finish Project Sigil.

 

[ECMO3]

They couldn't finish Project Sigil.

And I think one reason why is because the 5E (and 5.5E) rules do not easily lend themselves to automation. 5E is not really designed for automated RPGs with AI or not.

While full AI generated and run RPGs with 3d virtual worlds may be inevitable, D&D rules would have to be severely revised to do it well and they would need to be designed with this as an end goal and I am not sure that will be well received by the community.

Many think 4E was designed to be MMO friendly and that this was a major cause of their poor acceptance.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

They couldn't finish Project Sigil.

And this is the key element about 3d stuff. 3d has no obvious usecase.

 

[Hermes_Alexandria]

And this is the key element about 3d stuff. 3d has no obvious usecase.

Multiplayer BG3 and existing 3D VTTs prove the use case exists. Even Foundry has a dedicated, albeit niche, market for its 3D modules.

The hurdle isn't the use case; it's making the technology commercial, scalable, and fully accessible on the low-spec laptops the vast majority of players use.

 

[Morrus]

While full AI generated and run RPGs with 3d virtual worlds may be inevitable,

Video games! They already exist!

D&D rules would have to be severely revised to do it well

It would have to become a video game. Which it already has done a bunch of times.

That won't replace the tabletop hobby it will--as it does now--exist alongside it.