As the country’s candidate for this edition of Miss Universe revealed her National Costume during the pre-pageant segment days before the coronation, beauty pageant enthusiasts and artists began to produce their own concepts and interpretations.
However, a college student from Antique has earned criticism after going viral for AI-generated National Costume designs days after it was featured on different news sites and mainstream media.
Rotchie Martin, who is studying Tourism Management at the University of Antique, posted on his Facebook account a series of detailed and 3D designs of costume design ideas which was noticed by many Filipino social media users, particularly the “Discover Antique, Philippines” page reaching more than 11,000 reactions and 5,000 shares in the present.
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According to the mentioned local account, the said designs were inspired by Philippine mythology and traditional folklore.
As the designs blew up on social media, there were numerous people, especially artists, who took offense by this and were concerned about AI replacing actual artists. It also ignited conversation about the mentioned student being considered an artist, as AI takes original artworks from real artists.
On the other hand, many users also proudly recognized his designs, defended him from bashers, and even suggested that he should turn them into reality.
Amidst the growing backlash from the public, the Sebaste native is seemingly unbothered by them and even defended his method of making art in one deleted comment, claiming that “it was all my idea and creativity.”
“Hindi naman porket wala nang ginawa ay wala na ring creativity hindi ito google na magsearch ka lang then lalabas na ang result! You need to be creative para maka generate ng magandang images at maachieve ang gusto mo na magenerate ng AI, and also you need to be detailed. Kung gumagamit ka ng AI you’ll understand! [Not doing all the work doesn’t mean there’s no creativity. It’s not like Google where you just search, and the results come out! You need to be creative to generate beautiful images and achieve what you want to generate with AI, and you also need to be detailed. If you’re using AI, you’ll understand!]” he stated.
Others also pointed out some critiques to the media as they explain that Martin “was not properly introduced on television” and that stations “should carefully consider their way of introducing individuals, especially when a host might imply ownership or originality.”
In addition, several Filipino users also called out the ‘Discover Antique’ page for failing to conduct full research and posting without including a disclaimer of the creation being prompted to AI as well as demanded them to feature real artists and designers.
Apart from the ethical concerns surrounding AI-generated art and copyright issues, studies have suggested that it could potentially devalue artistic efforts and the creative process, posing a threat to an artist’s professional identity. Additionally, artists perceive AI art as lacking in terms of depth, complexity, and storytelling compared to human imagination and intuition.
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