Global AI Art Hackathon

We do not require you to complete a fully functional product or a commercial closed loop. What we care about more is: whether you can turn a feeling, an idea, or a question worth discussing into a piece of work that can be viewed, exhibited, and experienced, centered around the theme of "how humans and AI co-exist."

Please make sure to fill out the Registration Questionnaire and write TapNow in the "Recommended Art Broker" field.

1. Time & Location

Time: September 12–September 13 (Saturday–Sunday)
Location: Shanghai Zhangjiang AI Innovation Town

Day 1｜September 12

• 10:00—10:30｜Opening
  • Release of inspiration topics
  • Introduction of event rules
  • On-site matchmaking / team formation
• 10:30—10:30 Next Day｜Creation
  • 24-hour creation sprint
  • On-site creation space, coffee supply, and Vibe Coding environment provided
  • Overnight creation supported

Day 2｜September 13

• 10:30—11:30｜Code Freeze & Project Submission
  • On-site curation and setup
  • Each participant or team must submit a screen recording of the running project (under 3 minutes) as a backup
• 11:30—16:00｜Judging & Preview
  • Professional judging and scoring
  • Booth experience on-site
  • "Collector" preview
• 18:00—20:00｜Live AI Art Auction & Pitching
  • TOP 20 projects will compete for virtual coins from 200+ on-site audience members
  • 4 major awards will be determined

2. Registration & Team Formation

• You can participate individually, form your own team, or team up on-site
• No limit on team size
• No restriction on professional background
• Artists, designers, programmers, engineers, product managers, students, researchers, and anyone interested in AI creation are welcome to join

3. Creative Theme & Project Requirements

3.1 Creative Theme

The overarching theme of this Hackathon is:

How Humans and AI Co-exist

Under this broad theme, we do not restrict specific creative directions. If you lack inspiration for now, you can start with the following keywords:

• Alien / Alien: When a non-human intelligence begins to create, who is the author—you or it?
• Between / Between: In the AI era, is your most intimate relationship undergoing changes?
• Exchange / Exchange: What are we willing to trade in order to train intelligence?
• Gravity / Gravity: In 2026, what attracts you most besides AI and everything it brings?
• Infinite / Infinite: If everything can be infinitely generated, what is worth completing?
• LLM / Large Language Models: Is the model the new art of this era?
• Museum / Museum: In the future, will humans become exhibits in museums?
• Species / Species: Will humans become ancestors of AI?
• Sanctuary / Sanctuary: If AI becomes a new civilization, how will it define human habitats?
• Time / Time: Will AI alter the flow of time?

3.2 Project Formats

No restriction on format, including but not limited to:

• Images
• Videos
• Games
• Installations
• Agents
• Code
• Paintings

We do not require the projects to have complete functions or commercial closed loops. We focus more on whether they can translate a feeling or a question worth discussing into an expression that the audience can watch, experience, and resonate with on-site.

3.3 AI's Role & Creative Evidence

Each participating team needs to explain the role of AI in their project and how AI participated in the creation.

At the same time, submit two types of evidence:

Human Judgment
Retain at least one AI recommendation rejected by humans, and explain the reason for rejection.

AI Surprise
Retain at least one instance of unexpectedly generated content from the model, and explain why it was integrated into the final project.

These two types of evidence will be recorded in the "Symbiosis Passport", ensuring that the concept of "Human Artist × AI Collaboration" is not just marketing spin.

4. Judging & Awards

4.1 Professional Judging

The jury of this Hackathon consists of 8 professionals from the fields of art and technology. During the formation of the jury lineup, we also received support and recommendations from professional institutions such as the Pudong Art Museum and the 798 Art Zone.

The professional judges will focus on the following four dimensions:

Technical Expression
Whether AI is effectively integrated into the creative process, rather than remaining at the tool demonstration level.

Artistic Expression
Whether the project possesses independent aesthetic judgment and forms a unique language in form and content.

Worldview
Whether the project presents perspectives and imaginations of the AI era that have not yet been fully expressed.

Depth of Human-Machine Co-creation
Whether the project generates new possibilities that transcend the individual creative capabilities of humans or AI.

4.2 Live AI Art Auction & Pitching

The TOP 20 projects will be tested through virtual coin bids from 200+ on-site audience members, ultimately producing the following 4 major awards:

• Grand Prize "Da Vinci Award": Prize of 30,000 RMB
• Best Artistic Expression Award "Picasso Award": Prize of 20,000 RMB
• Best Technical Expression Award "Musk Award": Prize of 20,000 RMB
• Best Disruptive Innovation Award "Andy Warhol Award": Prize of 20,000 RMB