Artists furious after AI-generated art wins contest
A stunning artwork generated by artificial intelligence has claimed first prize at an art competition, enraging the art world and calling into question what it means to be an artist.
The work was “created” by Jason M Allen, a game designer from Colorado, who won first place in the emerging artist division's "digital arts/digitally manipulated photography" category at the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition.
His winning image, titled Théâtre D'opéra Spatial (French for Space Opera Theatre), was made with Midjourney — an artificial intelligence system that can produce detailed images when fed written prompts by the user.
"I'm fascinated by this imagery. I love it. And I think everyone should see it," Allen, 39, told CNN Business.
Allen's winning image looks like a bright, surreal cross between a Renaissance and steampunk painting.
As per the category Allen competed in, he told officials that Midjourney was used to create his image when he entered the contest, as the category dictated entrants use "digital technology as part of the creative or presentation process".
Midjourney is one of a growing number of such AI image generators, joining the likes of Imagen and DALL-E to give the artistically-challenged the means to create stunning images.
Despite the parameters of the category, many artists were angered by Allen’s win due to his reliance on technology to create the artwork.
"This sucks for the exact same reason we don't let robots participate in the Olympics," one Twitter user wrote.
"This is the literal definition of 'pressed a few buttons to make a digital art piece'," another Tweeted.
"AI artwork is the 'banana taped to the wall' of the digital world now."
Yet while Allen didn't use a paintbrush to create his winning piece, he assured people there was plenty of work involved.
"It's not like you're just smashing words together and winning competitions," he said.
"Rather than hating on the technology or the people behind it, we need to recognise that it's a powerful tool and use it for good so we can all move forward rather than sulking about it," Allen said.
Image credits: Jason M Allen - Midjourney