'D&D' artist admits to using AI for illustrations in new book

Image: Wizards of the Coast

Dungeons & Dragons' newest book, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants!, has sparked controversy after one of the artists admitted to using artificial intelligence to assist in creating some of the illustrations. Ilya Shkipin, who has been working with Wizards of the Coast since 2014, posted on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) that he used AI to generate "certain details or polish and editing" for his art. He later deleted his posts, but screenshots of them have been circulating online.

Shkipin claimed that most of his art was "enhanced with ai rather than generated from [the] ground up." However, this does not change the fact that he used AI-generated images without disclosing it in the book. It is unclear if Wizards of the Coast or D&D Beyond, who collaborated on the book, were aware of his use of AI in his process.

Screenshots obtained by io9 show that Shkipin used AI art generators like Pika Labs AI and also operates an NFT marketplace on superrare. Both of these practices are frowned upon by many in the D&D and TTRPG communities who value originality and authenticity in art. Shkipin also shared some initial sketches on X, which he said he used to prompt the AI generators.

A source at Wizards of the Coast said they did not know that Shkipin used AI for his art. They also assured that none of the text in the book was AI-generated. They said they would update their guidelines to prevent such incidents from happening again. D&D Beyond also stated on X that they didn't know Shkipin's use of AI.

Shkipin has not responded to io9’s request for comment. He posted on X on August 5 that "the future of today[s] illustrations is being discussed." This is likely due to the backlash he and Wizards of the Coast received after his AI use was exposed online. There is no information yet on what this means for the book.

Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants! is set to be released on August 15. Physical copies have undoubtedly already been printed and shipped to distributors and stores. This means the book will contain AI-generated art unless recalled or reprinted. 

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