Abstract
In 2022, the winner of the emerging artist in digital arts at the Colorado State Fair Fine Arts Competition was awarded to an AI-created image, causing a substantial amount of controversy. One of the judges, Cal Duran, admitted later that he hadn’t realised it was generated by AI, despite the abstract for the image mentioning Midjourney – the online image generator that had been used. This raises questions about how AI may impact our relationship to digital art and demonstrates that AI-literacy may vary between different demographics. This paper examines our 2025 research project into how generations feel about AI – do they trust AI-created content? Can they spot this content online? What does this mean for how we respond to creative, arts-related content? Will increased awareness of AI and feelings of distrust in what we see online, alter our conscious and subconscious responses to digital art and our ideas of creative authenticity?
Presenters
Grace ThomasSenior Research Fellow, Art and Humanities, Wrexham University, Flintshire [Sir y Fflint GB-FFL], United Kingdom Jack Ibbotson
Student, Masters Degree, Keele University, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
2026 Special Focus—Modeling Life Systems: Art, Algorithms, Ecologies
KEYWORDS
AI, Digital Art
