Several online users have criticized an electric cooperative’s recognition of a supposed AI-generated artwork in a nationwide digital poster-making competition titled “Disenyo Ng Liwanag At Pag-Asa”.
The poster, which was honored during an award ceremony led by the Cagayan 1 Electric Cooperative Inc. (CAGELCO 1), has drawn backlash from numerous netizens and tech experts who likened the rural electrification-themed artwork to images forged by artificial intelligence tools.
The cooperative also gave cash incentives of P2,500 to the entrant on top of the recognition.
The contest was organized by Philippine Rural Electric Cooperatives Association Inc. (PHILRECA), an umbrella organization of various local electric cooperatives in the country.
According to PHILRECA’s advisory, the digital poster-making competition is open to all member-consumer-owners and employees of the electric cooperatives.
The mechanics of the contest stated that “all entries must be the original work of the participants and must not infringe on any third party’s existing copyrights.”
Part of the criteria assesses the “visual impact or creativity” of the work, meaning the entry should “show original design and are uniquely customized and not imitated.” It takes up 30% of the total score.
AI-generated?
Meanwhile, the now-viral photo of the artwork in question, which was posted last September 9, has garnered over 31,000 reactions and 1,000 shares on Facebook so far, with several of online users questioning and even mocking the integrity of the contest.
“Pano to nakalagpas?” a Facebook page dedicated to animation wrote.
“In what way does generative AI display effort and creativity? How will you expect artists to be motivated to create meaningful, quality and inspiring works if their efforts would be equated to that of a machine?” a Facebook user wrote.
“Binigyan pa ng incentive yung AI art…ewww kadiri,” another commented.
A graphic designer went as far as posting a sped-up video demonstration of him recreating the controversial poster in Adobe photoshop by deriving from Google different images and elements that appear to be exactly identical to that of the artwork.
However, one social media user called out another netizen for supposedly displaying “hypocrisy” after the latter verbally attacked the entrant with death threats on Facebook.
“Bruh. Educate them, share neutral advice for not using artificial intelligence, and do not curse anyone despite their crime of doing an AI in an art competition. ☠️ Instead of putting them into a curse. This post is hypocritical,” she said.
What the competition body said
On Friday, September 13, the Cagayan-based organization clarified that the controversial poster was not part of roster of the contest winners since the entrant in question failed to submit all the requirements needed in order to compete.
“CAGELCO 1, however, recognizes all efforts by its member-consumer-owners for submitting entries in our behalf. That was why CAGELCO 1 awarded her, just like the other entries, with cash incentives,” the cooperative wrote in the comment section of its now-viral post.
“It is unfortunate that the artist is being bashed online for her work,” it added.
Another token of recognition worth P3,000 was given to another artist, who was able to complete his requirements which is why the cash incentive is higher, the electric company said.
An entrant from Cagayan who finished second place overall was granted P10,000 from PRECA and an additional P3,000 from CAGELCO 1.
The entrant behind the artwork in question has not yet spoken about the “AI artwork” claims of online users.
