I was hoping that we could continue this discussion as LD51 approaches. I worry that unless either @pov makes a ruling or the community somehow comes to a consensus, there are going to be a lot of arguments and bad feelings come R+R time. Some people seem to think that they obviously should be allowed to use these new AI art tools, and some think that they obviously should be banned. I can see both sides; here are some arguments from the last thread and from me.

For * the Compo rules state that "content generators are allowed" * current models have niche uses; require editing, prompt engineering, trial and error to get good results (not likely to be true for long, though) * better art means better games, raising the bar for everyone * as AI becomes more integrated with game dev over time, it may eventually seem silly to prohibit its use * it's a tool; don't tell me what tools I am and am not allowed to use

Against * the "content generators" mentioned in the rules are nowhere near as advanced as these new ones * the process of text-prompt-only generation can be compared to "commissioning" art, which is not allowed in the Compo * right now, access to strong models is inequitable, requiring either money (Midjourney, DALL-E) or powerful hardware (Stable Diffusion) * the Compo is supposed to be "hard mode" Ludum Dare, and in some ways this goes against the spirit of that idea * the rules state that "you must work alone" — at what point along the AI continuum are you no longer working alone?

Multiple commenters suggested that competitors be allowed to use AI art if they opt out of the Graphics category. I don't love that idea: you're supposed to do that when using existing assets in the Jam. While people sometimes do opt out of categories in the Compo, I think you should really adhere to all of its rules or do the Jam instead.

The community isn't going to reach a consensus all at once, and certainly not in the comments section of this post, but the more we talk about it before the fact, the better.

Here's a poll, whatever that's worth.