Man wins art competition with image-generating AI

Technology has been following all the active fields of man - including the arts. Recently a man named Jason Allen used an image-generating AI to create a work simply by typing a few words or phrases. What could have been just fun ended up generating a big discussion, as this work became the winner of a digital arts contest. The question is, does only the artwork count or all the effort and skill of the creator?

Prize was $300

Jason Allen posted on a channel in Discord who applied for a digital arts award and won the top prize for US$ 300 — something around R$1.566 in direct conversion. As expected, the participants used conventional resources to create digital arts, but Jason ended up just writing a few words for an artificial intelligence to do all the work for him.

At the time, the tool used was the midjourney, which like other image generators, just type a few words or phrases for the system to create something based on that. AI can't always hit what's in the human's mind behind it, but it often gets pretty close. And in this case it looks like it was exactly as Jason Allen intended. Not that Jason's “creation” is invalid — even because the image is really impressive — but when the matter came to light, the boy started to be rejected for not having used artistic skills in fact to win the competition.

After the publication of the news on Discord and the consequent attacks from the public, Jason Allen came to his defense stating that despite the simplicity of typing words to get an image, that was not exactly how it happened. He said he spent several weeks trying to find a way to get the perfect image that would win the contest, which he even had a final touch with with the help of Adobe Photoshop — one of the devices expected to be used to compose the eligible arts.

The boy claims that he sent his work to the competition with the words “Jason Allenvia Midjourney“, without knowing if, in fact, the organizers and judges knew that it was an image-generating artificial intelligence. When asked about this, he replied: “and did I still need to say that too?".

I knew this would be controversial. How interesting to see how all these people on Twitter who are against AI generated art are the first to throw the human under the bus discrediting the human element! Does that sound hypocritical to you?

Jason Allen on a Discord Server

Did you deserve it or not?

He also said that he sent the art to make a "statement" about the use of midjourney in a competitive way. His victory shows that images created by AI can surpass the art of humans. At the same time, it highlights the growing debate over whether artificial intelligence programs will one day be able to replace professional artists.

A spokeswoman for Colorado State Fair, responsible for hosting the said art competition, said that the event's organizers are now aware that a program powered by artificial intelligence has spawned Jason Allen's art. But currently the rules do not prohibit the use of artificial intelligence when it comes to the category of digital art. With this, it is imagined that the organizers may end up reviewing the regulations in the future.

The public — which involves attendees or admirers — can also file a formal complaint with the state fair if they believe the art of artificial intelligence has broken the rules. But for that to happen, you need to pay $300 to start the grievance process — how ironic, huh?

In Discord chat, Jason Allen also mentioned that he was trying to sell AI-created art on state fair, another place for the exhibition of arts, including digital ones. Your prized piece is listed in US$ 750 — something around R$ 3.914, that is, more than double what he won in the competition.

Make your image by AI

Curious to know how artificial intelligence imaging works in practice? Here in the showmetech we have already introduced a tool called crayon, capable of doing exactly what is proposed. Just access the Craiyon website, type a few words — it can be in Portuguese, but preferably in English — and that's it! Just wait a few moments for your own image to be created by an artificial intelligence. Make yours and tell us what you think in the comments!

See also other features

It has image-generating artificial intelligence on TikTok too! TikTok Effect uses AI to turn words into images.

Pig iron: PCMag.