AI generated image was awarded in art contest

September 7, 2022

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Surprisingly, this photo drawn with artificial intelligence software won the highest prize in the Annual Art Contest of the Colorado State Fair, USA, it had an unusual entry in the painting category.

This is a work of art created with Midjourney, an artificial intelligence software that allows you to create complete, ultra-realistic works of art by simply entering a few lines of text.

AI-generated work was awarded instead of other human creations

The painting, titled “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial”, won the Blue Ribbon Award in the category of Emerging Digital Artist. Also, it was the first AI-generated work to win a prize in a high-profile art contest.

The revelation of this precedent has caused much discussion, especially in the artist community. When Midjourney creator Jason M. Allen was first accused of fraud, the backlash was huge. Jason M. Allen says that he didn’t break any rules. “I don’t apologize for that. I won and I didn’t break any rules.”he said when asked by a CNN reporter for a comment on the story. He also explained that by submitting the artwork, he revealed that the painting was created by AI. Jason M. explains that although the contest is focused on digital art, artificial intelligence is also a digital tool and therefore fully eligible.

Disgust with the situation is legitimate. Trying to bring the dynamics of this case to other scenarios, it is as if a 3D printed product won a sculpture or carpentry contest, where the merit lies in manual work and personal creativity.

Faced with an increasingly digitized and cold world, it is worth safeguarding 100% human artistic spaces, as a means not only of recreation, but also of artistic dissemination.

From the technique, a self-generated image can achieve a great impact. With the attached example, it is surprising to see how an algorithm can generate, based on a small written description, an illustration with such a level of detail that makes this work a copy worthy of recognition, above other authentically created works. by human artists.