CDA & AI Guidance

STLP Creative Digital Arts and the Use of AI 

The STLP Creative Digital Arts (CDA) competitions are designed to celebrate the creativity, skills, and innovation of Kentucky’s K-12 students. In these competitions, students are encouraged to showcase original work that reflects their own ideas, abilities, and understanding of digital arts.

Generative AI Tools: Inspiration, Not Creation

Students may explore generative AI tools for inspiration during their creative process (using tools as allowed by local district policy). However, it is important to understand that the core purpose of CDA competitions is for students to design, create, and learn through hands-on involvement with their work. Entries must be original creations produced by students, and should reflect their personal creative efforts.

Using AI to directly generate a digital artwork or product for submission does not align with the spirit of the competition. STLP’s CDA competitions are about what students make, how they develop their ideas, and what they learn throughout the creative journey. Simply submitting AI-generated content as one’s own work does not embrace these foundational goals.

STLP recognizes the value and importance of AI skills for students as they prepare for the future. We are committed to exploring ways to incorporate AI into our programs while promoting its safe and responsible use. In the meantime, we will continue to uphold the rule that CDA competition entries must be original student creations, not AI-generated products, to preserve the focus on student-driven design, creation, and learning.

Why This Matters:

The CDA competitions are designed to empower students to:

• Develop and demonstrate their technical skills in digital creation.

• Learn through hands-on engagement with digital creativity tools.

• Express original ideas in creative, artistic ways.

When students rely on AI to produce CDA entries, they miss out on valuable opportunities for learning, growth, and personal expression. We believe that student-driven creativity is at the heart of these competitions. Other opportunities for students to demonstrate their ability to utilize AI will remain available as part of STLP... just not as part of the Creative Digital Arts compeitions. 

Guidance Summary:

• AI tools may be used as sources of inspiration.

• Final submissions must be the student’s own, original work.

• Submitting AI-generated content is not permitted.

Just as utilization of copyrighted materials without displaying the express permission for use granted from the content owner can be a disqualifying factor in STLP competitions, utilization of generative AI in a submitted CDA entry can be grounds for competition disqualification. 

By focusing on original creation, students will gain the most from the experience and ensure their entries reflect their unique talents and hard work. This guidance should help both educators and students understand the appropriate use of AI while maintaining the core values of the CDA competition.

Looking Ahead:

STLP will continue our search for new and engaging ways to welcome the use of AI in STLP competitions while filtering all program decisions through the lens of the Kentucky Department of Education's Artificial Intelligence Brief (among other important guidance such as KY Academic Standards for Technology, the KETS Master Plan, and KY Digital Learning Guidelines).