Jason Allen, a famous game designer, forcefully entered the Colorado State Fair Arts Competition. His motive? To reflect his skills using artificial intelligence artwork; something he was able to accomplish to great effect. His work has since gone viral on social media, which has attracted media attention and some hateful comments. Unlike other art entries in the fair, Allen’s paintings were different. They were a blend of opulent opera performances with extraterrestrial landscapes. Allen’s work called “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial '' received first prize in the amateur category in the competition.

Yugantar/Pexels | Artwork generated via AI looks the same as art generated by human hands.

AI-Generated Art

The guidelines of the state fair did not directly mention using AI tools to generate art pieces. Allen said that he made clear that his work was created using online AI art tools. However, the competition judges said they were unaware that his artwork was even made using AI; if they had known, they would have made the same judgment. Judges were looking for an artistic representation that narrates a story and invokes spirit. According to them, Allen’s artwork proved to do so.

As per the rules, anybody can file a grievance for the submitted piece of work by posting a $300 bond. The bond will be returned if there’s a violation of rules. The director of communications, Olga Robok, looked into the matter; he presented a review that Allen did not break any rules. No grievance has been filed against Allen’s painting yet. Robak added that this matter has shed light on a new matter, which requires policy changes.

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Jason Allen AI Image

Allen paid an $11 fee for each of his three paintings to enter the competition. He won a $300 award for winning first prize for one of his paintings. He now wants to sell these paintings at $750 each. Allen spent almost 80 hours working on his painting, so he decided on the price of the paintings by the hard work and time he spent on the project.

Pavel/Pexels | Technology can never replace humans

The Future Of AI Art

Robak suggested that the rules of the competition should be changed every year according to the categories as it was amended this year to include digitally produced artwork. He further suggested that it would be better to introduce a separate category for AI art. There was no other entry that had used AI tools to produce their artwork. AI-generated art has become increasingly popular on social media in the past few months.

The reason for it is that the DALL-E mini generator is now easily accessible to the public. Allen said that he feels that the art community is heading into a crisis owing to the disruptive technology of AI. Some people believe that AI can never replace creative jobs, so there is no need for sculptures and artists to worry. Allen further added that AI helped him and his team make amazing art for game design. Maybe the backlash and negative comments are because people have the fear of being replaced by technology. Technology will likely replace some jobs, but nothing can replace human work.