A new AI art competition wants to tackle issues of representation in AI to “reshape the visual narrative”.

Canberra non-profit Women in ICT (WIC) launched the AI Image Equity Challenge: You Can’t Be What You Can’t See this month, with president Josephine Calabria saying tech had an “image problem”.

“As AI continues to evolve, it’s essential that women aren’t just part of the conversation but leading it, especially when it comes to shaping how the technology is applied and understood,” she said.

“We all know that you can’t be what you can’t see.”

While many art prizes have banned AI, this is a competition specifically for artificially generated images. Entrants are tasked with creating an original AI image that brings to life untold stories of women in technology.

“We wouldn’t necessarily call it an artistic challenge,” WIC Board Member Jade Carson said. ”What we’d call it is an image equity challenge, so ensuring that there are images of women being generated.

“[To] represent that group of women and girls who do engage and work in tech but maybe are underrepresented in the base information that’s been fed into those AI models.”

AI has run into controversy in recent years with women’s representation and as AI becomes more integrated in society, it can cause real-world problems.

The problem, according to some experts in the field, is the data sets AI is being trained on are inherently compromised by personal and societal prejudices.

“You asked an AI to generate an image of a woman, and it would put her in the kitchen … that’s a trend that we see in the representation of women,” Ms Carson said.

“Tech has a bit of an AI image problem. And we wanted to flood the internet with images of women and girls in tech, doing tech, enjoying tech, studying tech, so that’s where the idea spawned from.”

But with millions of images being scrapped by AI programs, WIC admits that it can’t change this at the base level.

Instead, Ms Carson said the group was trying to facilitate the generation of more positive images, both to influence the images these programs were generating and to inspire more women to enter the male-dominated AI field.

Entries will be judged under four criteria: representation and creativity, impact and storytelling, technical execution and quality, and ethical and responsible AI use.

Entrants will have to disclose their prompts, which AI tools they used, the algorithms, and the source materials.

The competition winner will receive a $560 Eizo Flexscan monitor.

Runner-up prizes are a Sparkling High Tea at the Marion for second place, and a WIC breakfast series ticket and a merchandise pack for third.

Entries for the AI Image Equity Challenge close on 10 August and will be judged by a panel made up of WIC board members, art and tech leaders, and journalist Tracey Spicer.

Ms Carson encouraged anyone thinking of signing up to take part.

“It’s a fun way to learn and a fun way to engage with the community,” she said. ”The community is really welcoming and engaging, and there are some great prizes on offer.”

This year, WIC is celebrating its 25th anniversary of advocating for women in information and communications technology.

You can enter the competition here.