Now, I'd like to be direct: I worry that the contest is not long for this world. We want this to be a 100% human-drawn (whether by hand or digitally) contest, but AI entries keep on popping up each year (the last couple of years).
Frankly, I don't have the time to run the contest if the burden of detecting AI junk gets much higher than it already is.
The purpose of this thread is to look at last year's rules, and discuss changes or additions to the procedure for entry that could help us have a successful contest this year!
(Note: I am not looking for any comments on entries from last year. I simply want to focus on the rules and steps for participation.)
It does seem hopeless. Maybe it would help to have separate categories for physical work and computer-created work. I don’t think it’s possible to reliably detect faked evidence of manual effort anymore, but an honor system with no penalty for telling the truth would make it easier to comply than cheat.
I guess the goal is to make it as difficult to cheat as possible without making it miserable for legitimate artists. Perhaps having one or two additional progress "checkpoints" (in addition to the 40-60% one). Maybe one at 20-25% and one at 80-90%? If I had to pick just one, I'd go with 20-25%.
You could require participants include a handwritten random code or short note along with their work. Maybe in a separate Layer on top of the rest of the artwork. Anyone who legitimately does digital art should have no problems freehanding a code/note along with their proof.
I'd also require progress screenshots to clearly show the software and Layers.
Those are all things I'd personally have no problem with as someone who participated last year. If the alternative is binning the whole thing, inconveniencing participants a little seems fine to me.
PS: Faking this type of evidence is technically possible, but not something that can be done casually. Making the process of cheating more involved should reliably filter out most cheaters.
Edit: I guess some apps don't have Layers / some people don't use them, so maybe just a full view of the app would be enough.
I think something that would relatively easy for genuine artists to provide is a construction drawing. Most people (me included) draw some sort of basic structure that acts as a guide for their finished rendering; I'm sure it's not impossible, but it certainly seems like AI would have a harder time creating a construction drawing that appears logical to an experienced artist. It would probably be the easiest stage to detect fake submissions.
How about this: Make everyone make two versions of their coin: a digital and a non-digital.
One of them will naturally be better for most artists. Everyone can define the image they want to be the contest-image.
The thing is: artists draw and paint a distinctive style among all mediums. Even amateurs. The two images will resemble each other in an artist/human specific way. The good parts and the bad.
An AI-user usually doesn’t have the abilities to draw, paint or even scribble a version of „their“ image. They may fake something, but I believe you can see the difference in authorship. The ability level to move your hand is recognizable.
The non-digital version needs to be obviously non-digital, like a photo with a bit of a table or something. Well, and all the other rules that are in place already should remain, if they were helpful in the past.
