A line has been drawn in the sand at Dragon Con, as the popular Atlanta convention took the dramatic step of ejecting a vendor from its Artist Alley over allegations of selling AI-generated artwork as their own. The removal, which was conducted with a police escort, was met with cheers from fellow artists on the convention floor.
The incident, videos of which quickly circulated online, involved a vendor exhibiting under the name Oriana Gerez at booth A10. Accusations arose from other artists and attendees who believed the work on display was not created by human hands but by a generative AI program. Following an investigation, convention staff asked the vendor to leave the premises.
This move by Dragon Con is one of the most significant real-world enforcements of anti-AI art sentiment seen at a major fan event. The Artist Alley is a cornerstone of conventions like Dragon Con, providing a vital marketplace for independent creators to connect with fans and sell their work. The presence of AI-generated art, often trained on the work of human artists without their consent, is seen by many as an existential threat to their livelihood.
The cheering from onlookers wasn’t just celebratory; for many, it was a sigh of relief. The creative community has grown increasingly frustrated as AI-generated images have flooded online spaces, with many tech companies advocating for their use. At the same time, artists report a decline in their incomes.
While Dragon Con does not appear to have a clear, public policy on AI art in its exhibition guidelines, this action is consistent with a previous stance. In 2024, the convention’s prestigious Dragon Awards disqualified a finalist in the Best Illustrative Book Cover category after it was discovered that the cover for Cedar Sanderson‘s novel, Goblin Market, was AI-generated.
At the time, Dragon Con Co-Chair Dave Cody explained the decision, “we recognize the AI is a new tool with enormous potential and society will eventually come to a consensus about how it should be used… Until then, however, we want the Dragon Awards to offer fans an opportunity to recognize the humans who create the works that fans love best.”
The decisive action in the Artist Alley suggests this philosophy has now been extended from the awards to the convention floor itself. The move stands in contrast to a recent incident at Fan Expo Canada, where police were called on those protesting an AI art presence, not on the exhibitors.
The response from the wider convention scene has been swift. In the wake of the Dragon Con ejection, Galaxy Con announced it was also implementing a ban on AI-generated artwork.
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