Pokemon TCG Illustration contest under fire for apparent AI-generated submissions

The official, annual Pokemon TCG Illustration Contest for 2024 is currently underway, but contestants and fans have taken to social media to call out six entries that appear to be AI-generated. They also seem to be submitted by a single person, breaking entry rules.

Pokemon art competitions are a great way for members of the community to be a part of the franchise. This exciting contest lets fans show off art skills while competing for the opportunity to have their work immortalized as an official Pokemon TCG card among other prizes.

Unfortunately, the 2024 Pokemon TCG Illustration Contest has been causing a stir online following the announcement of the first 300 quarter-finalists.

Those watching the contest spotted six entries that appear to be done by one person and, as Adam Ellis alleged on X, might be the product of AI generation.

As RacieBeep states, each entrant may only submit three pieces to the Pokemon Illustration Contest, as iterated in the official rules for entry.

However, six pieces submitted under the names “Vigen K”, “Vigen Khachadoorian”, “Vigo K”, and “Vigo Khachadoorian” all sport a similar art style, with four Eevee pieces and two Pikachu pieces making it into the semi-finals list.

At this time, the allegations have not been addressed by The Pokemon Company, and there is no definitive proof that the submissions were done by the same person, or created using AI.

However, Pokemon fans in the comments are gathering information to back the allegations, with RacieBeep stating, “There are a lot of tells for details that a human would not have done on purpose, for example, the stadium lights curve unnaturally, Pikachu’s feet are an afterthought, Eevee has inconsistent ear anatomy, none of the rain drops make sense or match, Vaporeons are a different style”

KingesqueKing also adds, “I think the number one tip off that this is Al is that this person chose Pikachu and Eevee, two of the most recognizable pokemon of all time. Popular, simple designs that should be brimming with references for the Al to scrape for.”

Further breakdown by SwittyVA includes, “I’m no artist but the fact that they couldn’t consistently draw the brown part of pikachu tail across two pictures (where it turns into the lightning bolt) drew two of three luvdisc swimming straight down at the top of the water without like a splash or anything. And in every image eevees ear tufts are different (like at the bottom of its ear) 100% ai crazy this got through I hope they rectify it.”

The question many are asking is how this potential violation made it through the thorough judging process explained by The Pokemon Company’s contest page. This is etched in Adam Ellis’ post, where he states, “Very cool and fun that you allowed the same AI grifter to be a finalist under four separate fake names.”

Later in the comments, another user mentions the two other pieces Ellis’ post doesn’t include.

While these alleged claims of cheating are not currently being addressed by the Pokemon Illustration Contest, it is possible the outcry and pushback could lead to an investigation. In the meantime, there isn’t anything those keeping track of the contest to do about the semi-finalist selection.