The Pokémon Company has disqualified several participants from the Pokémon Trading Card Game illustration contest, apparently due to suspected use of AI.
The contest will see thousands of participants submit fan art of their favorite Pokemon, with a chance to win $5,000 and have their illustration printed on an official Pokemon card.
After the top 300 cards from the contest were announced, fans were quick to point out that several cards appeared to have traits created with generative AI, something that is expressly prohibited by the contest rules announced at the start of the contest.
The Pokémon Company released a statement about X, saying, “We are aware that an applicant selected from the top 300 finalists for the Pokémon TCG Illustration Contest 2024 violated the official contest rules.” The company has now disqualified them from the contest.
While not explicitly stated, the statement comes after many fans pointed out the alleged use of AI technology. The Pokémon Company also said that they would select more artists to fill the slots, in order to narrow down the top 300 applicants.
While most point to the possible use of AI as the reason for the ban, it has also been suggested that one participant submitted multiple entries with slightly different names, which is also prohibited by the rules and may have contributed to his disqualification from the contest.
