An AI won the first prize in the painting contest “Colorado State Fair fine art” which angered many artists and created a wave of protests.
It is known that an AI called Midjourney is the “thing” that drew the first prize picture at the exhibition in Colorado.
A man named Jason Allen brought the painting Théâtre D’opéra Spatial to an art exhibition in Colorado (USA) and won first prize in the digital painting section.
However, while other artists use electronic pens and tablets to complete their works, Jason Allen enlisted the help of AI Midjourney – a recently developed artificial intelligence engine. .
Jason Allenm printed the painting and signed the author’s name: “Jason M. Allen, co-author of Midjourney”, then brought the work to the exhibition. The painting Théâtre D’opéra Spatial depicts a grand opera performance.
After winning the first prize, Jason Allen boasted to the community of Midjourney users on Discord:
“I’ve already won, it’s a surprise.”
Critics say the painting is artistic with classical lines, detailed depiction of the Baroque theater hall, and a circular window filled with sunlight.
But, Jason Allen’s victory created a huge controversy between artists and the community of people who use AI for artistic purposes.
Genel Jumalon, ENNIE Award-winning artist commented:
“Too bad, something that’s not an award-winner reserved for artists.”
Many comments on Twitter expressed concern about what artificial intelligence can do.
“Art is dying”.
“AI is too creative, if it continues to develop, all the jobs that require a high level of it can be done, then what will humans have to do.”
The anxious comments attracted thousands of interactions in a short time.
Responding to the objections, Jason Allen said that these people are too selfish and hypocritical to deny what AI can and how well it does. He also did not forget to confirm that his painting still has a human element when it is Jason who directs the AI to draw it.
Jason Allen also shared, AI is only a tool to support the creative process because it only uses the available data he enters. First, Jason had to come up with ideas for the picture, select the suggestions of the AI, and then combine them to make the most elaborate. As a backup, Jason made up to 3 paintings to bring to the exhibition.
He also added, the time will come when humanity will have to recognize the works that AI has created, even if there is a separate category for them. Many artists disagree with this idea because works of art like this are enriching the tech world with their own brains.
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