A select number of entries from the current Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest for 2024 have reportedly been disqualified from the event for violating the event rules with the inclusion of AI-generated artwork.
In a post from the official Pokémon TCG account on X, the company released a short statement with the following information.
"We are aware that select entrants from the top 300 finalists of the Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest 2024 have violated the official contest rules. As a result, entrants in violation of the rules have been disqualified from the contest.
Furthermore, additional artists participating in the contest will soon be selected to be among the top 300 finalists.
We're committed to upholding the integrity of the Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest and appreciate fans' continued support as we celebrate the artistic abilities of the talented Pokémon community.
While The Pokémon Company has run plenty of illustration and art contests in the past over the years, illustration contests of this kind with similar rules have only recently come to other parts of the world following their success in Japan in 2019, with the previous contest occurring in 2022. With submissions for the 2024 contest actually starting in 2023, it’s little surprise that some users may have tried submitting AI-generated artwork following the rise in popularity of such programs.
Multiple Rules Broken
While the company did not directly mention or show the offending artworks that were found to be AI-generated, after investigation from fans on social media and other websites, it appears that not only were there multiple submissions containing AI-generated art, but that many of them likely belong to the same person.
(From user haruujin on X)
After finding multiple stylistic oddities and other details common among AI-generated artwork, such as the blurry audience background in the second artwork shown by Vigen Khachadoorian and the Vaporean in the third artwork by Vigen K, users quickly took to spreading this information on social media as others joined in the investigation. Given the similar names among all of these entries, it is also assumed that one individual is likely responsible for submitting each of these pieces under different names and accounts, presenting another violation of the contest rules.
With all these entries being removes, additional participants that previously didn’t make the cut for the top 300 may now have another chance at winning the contest if they are selected to fill the slots of the disqualified artwork. For now, judging will continue until the contestants are narrowed down to only 100 participants for the semi-finals.
