A photography competition in Pinchbeck has sparked a heated local debate because every entry must use artificial intelligence.
Called Artificial Pinchbeck, the competition is being advertised by Pinchbeck Hub, which is run by the parish council. It invites people to “reimagine” the village and its residents by starting with real photographs and altering them using AI.
The competition includes eight categories. The examples given in the rules include buildings, sport, churches, people and Christmas cheer. Entrants may submit no more than five entries each, but the rules also make clear that the use of AI is compulsory.
Criticism from artists and residents
The idea has not received universal support. People have been discussing the competition on Facebook, with objections focusing on the effect of AI-generated work on artists, photographers and the environment.
Janine Twelftree said she was concerned that AI “art” takes from actual artists and could harm their livelihoods. Corey RIngsell said they had hoped not to see generative AI competitions and found it especially troubling that this initiative was connected with a library.
“I’m against AI ‘art’ when it takes from actual artists, and I can’t see a way where actual artists are not going to be detrimentally affected,”
Hazel Alles also criticised the competition, saying that artists and photographers would find it disappointing. She said she would prefer to see work produced by real people rather than entries made through the compulsory use of AI.
“For artists and photographers, this is a disappointing competition. I’d rather see real work, by real people,”
Other residents raised a different concern: the environmental cost of the technology. The report says some people focused on the amount of water used by the data centres on which AI relies.
“The impact is vast”,
said Amanda Baggott.
Poster imagines an alternative Pinchbeck
The competition’s own promotional poster is AI-generated. It shows the Beatles crossing Abbey Road in Pinchbeck and presents a vision of what the village’s zoo might look like if it had one.
The image reflects the competition’s central idea: using familiar local subjects as the starting point for digitally altered or imagined scenes. However, the requirement that AI be used in every entry has become the main source of disagreement.
Hub says competition was requested
Volunteers at Pinchbeck Hub said the competition was requested and has opened a debate that was both surprising and unexpected. The hub houses up to eight different art and craft clubs, according to the report.
John Smith, a volunteer, said the organisers had not expected such strong feelings about the project. He said they had listened to the criticism but did not believe controversial technology should simply be kept away from ordinary people who wanted to explore it.
“Possibly we underestimated how strongly some people feel about it, and we’ve listened to that. But I don’t think the answer to a controversial new technology is to tell ordinary people they shouldn’t explore it. I think the better response is to explore it openly, responsibly and critically,”
That position puts the competition at the centre of a wider disagreement in the village about creativity, technology and what should count as artistic work. The organisers’ defence is based on exploration and discussion, while critics say the format risks diminishing the work of artists and photographers.
Online exhibition planned
The stated prize is inclusion in an online exhibition due to be held in the New Year. The supplied competition details do not give a specific date for that exhibition.
For anyone considering entering, the published conditions are that submissions must begin with real photographs altered using AI, each person can submit a maximum of five entries, and AI use is obligatory. The source does not provide a competition closing date or a fuller submission timetable.
