Rally posts, defends, and then retracts the obvious art of AI

Three weeks agoWizards of the Coast made a bold announcement that using… Generative AI tools At any stage of the creative process Magic: Gathering The products were banned. Little did he know that this announcement would soon set fire to him.

Over the weekend, healers of the coast came under fire from artists and Charm Community after publishing a A series of promotional photos From the old-fashioned cards to the next Ravnica Remastered hiring-Visualize the cards in a fictional library setting. Almost directly Audiences scored the backgrounds – not the cards themselves – as containing bloopers and anomalies that were hallmarks of AI-generated art, including random wires and impossible hairs in lightbulbs, or strange fakes on items like barometer readings and other fantastical machinery. . But the magicians were having none of this, and stood by the images as works of man-made.

“We understand fans' confusion due to the style being different from the card art, but we stand by our previous statement,” the publisher wrote. Now deleted reply to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “This art was created by humans, not artificial intelligence.”

Dear reader, we do not regret to inform you that the artwork was as artists and Charm Fans across social media continued to point out that it was in fact created by artificial intelligence. After less than a day of defending the artwork, Wizards deleted the posts as well as its defense, replacing them with a new statement that practically opened with, “Well, Which It happened.”

“As our diligent community has pointed out, it appears that some of the AI ​​components now featured in industry standard tools like Photoshop have infiltrated our marketing creativity, even if a human does the work to create the overall image,” the statement read. Partly to blame the use – contrary to Wizards' own policies on technical AI tools – on an outside marketing team. “Even though the artwork comes from a vendor, it is our responsibility to make sure we deliver on our promise to support the amazing human creativity that makes Charm great.”

“We've already made it clear that we're asking artists, writers and creatives to contribute CharmTCG refrains from using artificial intelligence tools to create the final results Charm products. What is clear now is that we need to modernize the way we work with sellers on creatives beyond our products — like the marketing images we use on social media — to make sure we support the amazing human ingenuity that is so important. Charm “, continued the expanded statement on Official Magic: Gathering website.

“Along with many others, we also want to become better at understanding if and how AI is used in the creative process. We believe everyone benefits from more transparency and better disclosure. We cannot promise to be perfect in such a fast-paced space.” Evolving, especially as generative AI becomes the standard in tools like Photoshop, but our goal is to always stand by man-made art and artists.

Likewise, Wizards' official ban on AI tools arose Retrospective investigation During the summer of 2023, when artist Ilya Shakibin confirmed that many of the art pieces they created for Dungeons and DragonsReference book Glory of the Giants It has been “enhanced” with artificial intelligence tools. Months later, Wizards updated the digital and physical edition of the book With new artwork To replace Shakbin's work, as part of an official announcement that the company will ban the use of such tools in the future D&D artistic work.

However, for some, the Wizards' initial defense has already been destroyed. At least one artist worked on it Charm Dave Rapoza – who worked on art for Packs of Charmcardsincluding releases in collections centered around itthe Lord of the RingsAndBaldur's Gate 3– Ties were publicly severed with Wizards over the error. “If you're going to stand up for something, you better make sure you actually pay attention to it, don't be lazy, and don't lie.” Raposa Written on X. After Wizards apologized for not pre-screening the artwork, Rapoza remained adamant that he would no longer work for the company.

“I won't go back to work, let's see how this all plays out over time.” added the artist. “I hope they stick to their word but everyone seems to be heading in that direction [with generative AI] So I'll be stuck for a while.”

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