A fine arts competition was won by an AI artist, and traditional artists are outraged.
In recent months, AI art generators have had a significant influence on digital art and development of new digital artworks. You can basically tell the current generation of tools, such DALL-E 2, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion, what you want them to generate, whether that's Sponge Bob Square Pants combined with Godzilla, a strange future landscape, or a realistic still life in the style of a Renaissance master. These tools are a great creative channel for those people that don't have the programming knowledge of compute power to create their own unique algorithms and just want get into AI art and start creating their own AI-generated art.
All of this has sparked intense philosophical discussion about the future of photographers, designers, and artists, with some individuals fearing that these technologies may eventually supplant human creators. Now, to further feed the argument, someone recently took first place in a fine art competition using an AI-generated artwork, and conventional artists are upset.
Jason Allen's Théâtre D'opéra Spatial (image above) took first place in the digital art division of the fine arts competition at the Colorado State Fair. It's a grand sci-fi fantasy scene where it appears like women dressed elaborately are peering out of a large circular doorway. However, Allen's use of the AI art generator Midjourney was only revealed after the prize was given out.
The board game firm Incarnate Games' creator and primary developer, Allen, claimed that his works were computer-generated, which is why they were classified as "Digital Art." They undoubtedly now understand, but they're choosing to remain with their choice and are appreciative of the "wonderful discussion" the event this year has sparked.
The usage of an AI art generator in an art competition has sparked outrage from both artists and non-artists alike. In response to the tweet from the Colorado State Fair, one individual wrote: "That is absurd. reduces the prestige of your whole art competition to the point where it is absurd." "Wow, someone can purchase software, modify a prompt, and label the result as art. I'll make sure to do it the next year so I can act like an artist "Added someone else.
Allen defended his submission in a Discord thread and on Twitter. He also emphasises that employing an AI art generator to produce a prize-winning work of art isn't as quick and simple as many reviewers seem to believe, noting that it took him weeks to create hundreds of photographs, edit them, and choose only three to submit to the competition.
However, a sizable portion of Twitter is still unconvinced. One commenter remarked, "This stinks for the exact same reason we don't allow robots compete in the Olympics." While someone another questioned, "Jeez… Will creatives have to begin "presenting their work" like it's a math class?"
But is it dishonest?
The first competition victory of AI-generated art has undoubtedly fueled the discussion around AI art. Some people compare it to the day Deep Blue defeated Gary Kasparov in a chess match, although there are differences. Instead of making their own decisions, AI art generators take their cues from the prompt writer. Many of the people employing AI art generators to produce art are artists, while many others aren't. There will undoubtedly be discussion over whether an AI prompt writer is an artist.
One may argue that an AI art generator is a tool in the same way that a paintbrush is. So, employing an AI art generator to create art for a competition is it unethical? As the world's largest community-driven AI art marketplace, we think it is not unethical and encourage the Colorado State Fair organisers to add a category for AI art the following year.
Evidently, they are thinking about it. In order to increase your chances of winning, understand more about AI art.
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