“Don’t Cut Corners on Art” - Wizards of the Coast and its Generative AI Controversy

This critical incident highlights the use of generative AI in creative content industries and consumer reaction to the use of generative AI to create content. This critical incident introduces readers to Wizards of the Coast (WotC), a subsidiary of Hasbro that produces the popular tabletop role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), and a generative AI controversy over one of its D&D sourcebooks that played out in August 2023. D&D gamers took to social media to voice their displeasure with WotC allegedly using generative AI to create artwork in a sourcebook. Cynthia Williams, President of Hasbro’s Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming division, and her team had to consider a response to customers' concerns and whether WotC should develop a policy to guide the use of generative AI by artists and employees. The case asks students to consider a company’s use of generative AI and the potential reaction by consumers, develop a response to public backlash regarding the use of generative AI, and plan an acceptable use of generative AI policy for a business within a creative industry.