WotC Quietly Replaces AI Art in ‘Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants’
Last week, WotC quietly replaced thirteen ai-enhanced pieces of art in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants on D&D Beyond.
AI-generated art caused quite a stir in the D&D community earlier this year when Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants was released. If you missed the earlier controversy, it began after readers noticed odd details in previews of certain monsters.
The illustrations in question had several odd details, including messed up feet, armor details that didn’t really match up or make sense, and strange blurred, misty sort of elements that made no sense.
For instance from the Frostmourn, here, people pointed out that both hands are at strange angles, the one gripping the axe has a weirdly recessed pinky, while the feet just sort of disappear into a weird, transparent mess.
The situation came to a head and was quickly resolved when WotC contacted the artist responsible for the pieces in question and the use of generative AI in the design process was admitted. Not long afterward, WotC released an official policy regarding AI-created art:
“We require that artists refrain from using AI Art Generation tools as part of their art creation process for developing D&D art.”
Alongside the updated policy, WotC, through D&D Beyond, promised to recomission the impacted artwork. Then, not long ago, owners of D&D Beyond’s version of Glory of the Giants discovered that the generative-AI-developed artwork had been replaced. About thirteen pieces all in all.
WotC Replaces AI Art in Glory of the Giants
Of course, the change only applies to the digital edition of the title. Those who bought print versions will have the relics of the hazy time before the policy was solidified. But if you have your title on D&D Beyond, you can go see the changed artwork for yourself.
Pictured above you’ll find the new version of the Frostmourn, which has much more purpose and poise to its pose. The details aren’t randomly scattered about. But there were more pieces than just that. Some of the primal dinosaurs, like the Altisaur and Regisaur have updated artwork:
Compared to its previous version:
Same goes for the new Regisaur.
No word yet on when the new print version of the book with the new art in it might be available. In the meantime, with the updated AI policy in place, WotC is already taking the steps it promised to keep the art generated by humans, for humans.
What do you think of the new artwork?
