Shocking! AI-Generated Art won a $300,000 prize just by inserting words into text

Shocking! AI-Generated Art Won a $300,000 Prize Just by Inserting Words into Text

Photo by: Unplash

The annual art competition at the Colorado State Fair this year awarded medals in all the regular categories, including painting, and carving.

However, one participant, Jason M. Allen of Pueblo West, Colorado, didn’t use traditional ways to create his work. He produced it using Midjourney, an A.I tool that converts words into incredibly lifelike images.

Mr. Allen’s artwork, “Théâtre D’opéra Spatial,” won the fair’s competition for new digital artists, making it one of the first A.I.-generated pieces to do so, and he won $300 as a reward. In addition, he sparked a heated response from artists who accused him of, basically, cheating.

His prize-winning artwork is now igniting debate about the definition of an artist and whether or not it is possible for a machine to produce art. Let’s examine how an AI-Generated piece of the art managed to stun everyone by winning a competition.

The Winning Art "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial," by Jason M. Allen

This AI-generated artwork, entitled "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial," was made by Jason M. Allen using the AI picture generator Midjourney. It was the winner of the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition's Emerging Artist Division's category for "Digital Arts/Digitally-Manipulated Photography."
This AI-generated artwork, entitled "Théâtre D'opéra Spatial," was made by Jason Allen using the AI picture generator Midjourney. It was the winner of the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition's Emerging Artist Division's category for "Digital Arts/Digitally-Manipulated Photography." He won $300 as a reward.

What was the Subject of Controversy Over the AI-Generated Art winner?

Obviously, these questions have provoked a fierce debate online. Some creatives fervently believe that Allen’s blue ribbon portends imminent disaster for individuals who create their own artwork—whether it be by painting, printing, or other tends to mean than letting an automated system accomplish it for us.

Artists all across the world are outraged that an a.i generated piece of art may win a competition. If everyone begins winning in a way, true artists would have no value.

One Twitter user succinctly put it this way: “There’s no effort put into entering some phrases into AI and it feels like it discredits artists who truly put labor into their creation.”

Another Twitter user stated, “We’re seeing the loss of artistry right in front of our eyes.”

“This is really awful,” commented another. “I can understand how AI art may be useful, but pretending to be an artist by creating one? Certainly not.”

However, several artists backed Mr. Allen, claiming that using AI to make a picture seems to be no different than using Photo editing software or any other digital image-manipulation tools and that innovation was still necessary to develop a winning artwork.

What was the Digital Artist Jason Allen's take on the AI Art Controversy?

He said that his anxiety prevented him from participating in his first painting competition. When he applied for the contest, Allen claimed that Midjourney was used to create this image. Furthermore, according to the category in which Allen participated, digital art refers to works that employ “digital tools as a part of the creative or post-processing.”

Allen claimed that Midjourney was used to create the work and that he was open about this. Additionally, he remarked, “I’m not going to apologize for it.” “I won, and I didn’t break any rules.”

Allen is happy that there is so much discussion surrounding the question of whether AI can be used to create art.

Allen stated, “Instead of disliking the technology or the individuals who invented it, we need to acknowledge that it’s a tremendous resource and use it for better so that we could all go forward instead of moping about it.

The artificial intelligence tool Midjourney, which transforms words into incredibly lifelike pictures, was used by Mr. Allen to make his artwork. Credit... The New York Times' Saeed Rahbaran

The production of art by artificial intelligence is not new. However, software that was introduced this year, with names like DALL-E 2, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion, has allowed even the most inexperienced artists to produce intricate, abstract, or lifelike compositions by merely putting a few lines into a text box.

For those who are unaware of what a Midjourney is? So, to quickly update you, Midjourney is one of an increasing number of these AI image creators. Through Discord, anybody may utilize Midjourney. There are a few others, such Imagen from Google Research and DALL-E 2 from OpenAI, but you can’t use them for free like Midjourney because they have requirements. For instance, DALL-E 2 needs an invitation, while Imagen is only available to Google users.

However, you may create AI art similar to this one using some of the free AI-generated art online websites.

To learn more about the program and the AI art generators, let’s ask a few questions.

What is AI-generated art?

AI is a part of computer science that aims at the invention of technology that can simulate human intellect or even recreate brain activity by using a set of algorithms. The creation of AI art is the product of a partnership between a human creator and an AI system, although the amount of independence may differ drastically and the success is highly dependent on the caliber of the data the AI is provided.

How to Make Art Using A.I?

In order to produce AI-generated art, artists can utilize a text-to-AI art generator as a creative tool and work with algorithms to build up specific rules that allow computers to evaluate thousands of photos and understand a certain production process, such as a unique artistic style or mood. The algorithms then create new masterpieces by generating innovative dimensions, sizes, characters, and textures.

There are several techniques to produce AI art. A person can create visuals in other people’s styles, create original graphics only from word descriptions, or even start a path to learn creative coding and create art solely using code. Some of the programs used to create AI images are Google Deep Dream, WOMBO Dream, GauGAN2, and ml5.js.

How long will it take for an AI-generated Image or AI Drawing to be Rendered?

After speaking with Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition winner and digital artist Jason Allen. It just takes 10 seconds to render out “Theatre D’opéra Spatial,” his openai-winning composition. You may thus estimate how long it will take, although, in my opinion, the length of time will depend on how complicated the artwork is.

What are the Best Softwares to make AI-Generated Art? 

The most recent generation of programs, such as DALL-E 2, MidJourney, and Stable Diffusion, can produce a staggering variety of pictures in response to text instructions; you essentially tell them what to make. However, those tools are not free and require an invitation, whether private or discord, but you don’t have to worry since 

Where to find AI Tools and Which are the Best Free AI art generator?

There are several free AI art generators from text or free AI applications available as well, such as creator.nigthcafe.studio, wombo.art, hotpot.ai, starryai, and many more are totally free AI art generators that you can use at any time. We also have explored some of the Top Free Ai Generated Art tools for Newbies, which you can try out.

What does the Future hold for Artists using AI-generated Art?

We believe artificial intelligence has a promising future since it benefits both the design community and digital artists. We mention this because artificial intelligence (AI) art generators have had a significant influence on digital art recently. The most recent AI technologies are capable of producing a staggering variety of pictures based on language cues, whether it’s a monster wearing pink trousers, a future environment, or an 80s design masterful still life. You can create anything; all you need to do is put it in writing. That’s all!

Artists will have a completely different perspective as more artists get access to AI and use the tools, both in terms of how they create work and how it evolves.

Can Art Created by a Machine be Legitimately Referred to as Art?

Some people are unsure whether AI art generators will be considered art despite the fact that they sweep the globe. There are undoubtedly drawbacks to take into consideration in addition to the amazing artwork that a smart artificial intelligence can generate because the technology is still in its early stages of development and still has some bugs to sort off.

What the AI that Really Can Produce Whatever Image You Choose?

Is Artificial Intelligence-Generated Art Real Art?

Yes, why not? It can be real art. We can consider AI-Generated Art to be Real Art because it is exactly similar to the same era when digital editing software such as Photoshop, Inkscape, Illustrator, and many more was set to release. Even at the time, people thought it was the end of art, but now we can say it is not the end, in fact, it drives the revolution in the creative industry, and the new word created “Graphic Design” or “Computer Animation,” and everything has changed forever.

The same thing is happening with AI-Generated Arts; the more people will adopt it, the more it will become causal to anyone and everyone.

“Change is the Rule” said by Lord Shri Krishna.

What is the impact of AI-Generated Art on the notion of art on its own?

AI-generated art is considered groundbreaking by some. Cosmopolitan published its first magazine cover created by the AI tool DALL-E 2 in June 2022. The AI didn’t function on its own, though. The creator of the design, video director Karen X. Cheng, published on TikTok the precise phrases she entered into the software to produce the image of an astronaut proudly strolling on Mars:

While the image’s “it only took 20 seconds to produce” claim appears on the cover, it is only half accurate. Every search takes 20 seconds, according to Cheng. “Of course, it will take a lot longer if you conduct hundreds of searches. When it came to me, I was attempting to obtain, say, a very precise image with a very unique vibe.”

These initiatives have received their fair share of detractors as well. While AI technology is groundbreaking, it is generating dread among artists who worry that the technology may ultimately devalue their means of support, according to an April 2022 blog post by illustrator James Gurney. He tells The Times via email, “The potency of these technologies has blown me away.” At the touch of a button, they may instantly offer out countless varieties that were created without the use of a brain or a heart.

Shocking! AI-Generated Art won a $300,000 prize just by inserting words into text
Karen X. Cheng produced words that DALL•E 2 used to produce the final Cosmopolitan cover. (Cover image provided by Karen X. Cheng)

How AI is Transforming Art Authentication?

The way that experts and collectors view authorship in art is evolving thanks to AI techniques. Artificial intelligence not just works with artists to inspire new creations and ideas, but it can also assist in uncovering cheating and spotting art counterfeit that defiles the art world.

In 2021, Art Recognition, a Swiss firm, made news by verifying a controversial artwork believed to be by Peter Paul Reubens and implying that the picture Samson and Delilah (ca. 1609) in London’s National Gallery are not actually by Rubens.

The AI technology doesn’t need to inspect oil, canvas, or the original work because it can analyze many aspects of the piece, such as shading and designs. It cannot examine the unseen layers of the art using conventional authentication techniques like a microscope, X-ray scanning, or laser reflectography; it can only assess originality through a digital image.

AI appears to comprehend the secrets of artistic brilliance better than humans do ourselves, despite the fact that the technology’s developers acknowledge that the process is not always flawless and that counterfeit may be detected with an efficiency of over 90%.

How can Blockchain Guarantee an Artwork’s Provenance and Origin?

The “provable scarcity” of a work of digital art, or the number of copies that are still for sale, may be determined using blockchain data. This volume significantly affects the value of digital art creation and can guarantee that customers pay a fair price. Additionally, a blockchain-based system may guarantee that a piece of digital art has a finite number of legitimate copies and so continues to be uncommon.

A unique blockchain token may be used by digital artists to register each of their copies, rendering any illegal copies useless. The rarity of an artwork increases with the artist’s end revenue.

How can Digital Art be Verified using Blockchain Technology?

Thanks to blockchain-based art authentication, purchasers may find out about the histories of prior owners. The fundamental benefit of the technology is that once a work of art is uploaded on the blockchain, it is difficult to fake or fabricate its provenance since the blockchain’s ledger is absolutely immutable. The market for “crypto art” is expanding, nevertheless. As a non-fungible token, Crypto art is offered for sale (NFT). There is no actual work of art to appreciate because the artwork is only available digitally (or damaged or stolen).

Others can distribute copies of the crypto art online. However, these duplicates do not decrease the value of the crypto art because only the buyer of an NFT art will possess the “artist’s original” and be able to verify the creator.

In a Nutshell

The use of AI in the art industry is still in its infancy, and this makes it difficult to anticipate where it will go in the future. It doesn’t matter where it is in the process; But what the public thinks about its earlier iterations is important.

The use of AI technologies has already sparked a fresh surge of interest in the way that individuals search for imaginative possibilities that deviate from reality.

However, we also cannot dispute the extent to which it will be abused.

We have all witnessed the consequences of poorly designed social media platforms. Our hope is that this does not happen again with AI.

What are your thoughts on this, do share.