Man Boasts About Winning Art Competition Using AI-Created Image

Is it cheating or just the future of digital art? A Colorado man recently won a local art competition by using an AI-powered program. 

Last week, Jason Allen posted on a Discord chat server that he won the top prize for digital art at the Colorado State Fair fine arts competition. However, he didn’t use conventional software drawing programs to create his art. Instead, he relied on an AI-based program called Midjourney, which can generate stunning, professional-looking art from a mere line of text. 

Indeed, the image Allen used to win the competition is spectacular and certainly award-worthy. But he’s now facing a public backlash for using AI—and not genuine artistic skills—to win.

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“Yeah that’s pretty fucking shitty,” wrote(Opens in a new window) one artist on Twitter, who caused Allen’s original post on Discord to go viral. 

Allen posted about his win in the Discord chat server for Midjourney, which is currently available as a beta. In his defense, Allen said he spent “many weeks” fine-tuning the program before it was able to generate the award-winning art, which was then refined with Adobe Photoshop. 

He also says he submitted the art to the competition using the words “Jason Allen via Midjourney,” although it doesn’t seem like he told the Colorado State Fair organizers what Midjourney can do.

Allen posting as Sincarnate on Discord.
(Credit: Discord/Jason Allen)

Allen didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. But in response to the growing criticism, he told users in the Discord server that naysayers have been too quick to dismiss his own role in programming Midjourney to create the art.

“I knew this would be controversial,” he wrote in a Monday Discord post. “How interesting is it to see how all these people on Twitter who are against AI-generated art are the first ones to throw the human under the bus by discrediting the human element! Does this seem hypocritical to you guys?”

He also said he submitted the art “to make a statement” about using Midjourney “in a competitive manner.” His win shows that AI-created images can beat art from humans. At the same time, it highlights the growing debate over whether AI programs will one day be able to replace professional artists.

A spokeswoman for the Colorado State Fair said the event’s organizers are now aware that an AI-powered program generated Allen’s art. But currently the rules have no prohibition against using artificial intelligence when it comes to the digital art category; organizers could end up revising the regulations in the future.

The public can also submit a formal complaint to the state fair if they believe the AI art broke the rules. But they must pay a $300 bond, which will kick off a formal review.

The state fair spokeswoman said she believed there was a cash prize, but didn’t have an exact number. Allen also mentioned the prize in the Discord chat: “But the winnings already paid for the prints, and hopefully the pieces sell, too,” according to Allen, who was selling the top prize for $750.