Humans VS Clankers

For years now there’s been a debate about whether AI (aka clankers) can produce real art, or if anything it spits out is destined to be slop. Well, we at Windscribe decided to throw money at this debate and put the AI techbros who swear by their tinskin companions up against real human beings with genuine passion and years of honing their talent in our latest competition - The Windscribe Animated Production Fest!

How it Works

There’s essentially two competitions for the same thing - creating an animation.
One of these is exclusively for humans using zero AI tools.
The other one has no rules about how you make it. AI, human, cyborg hybrid - go nuts.
Are you a human artist who scoffs at the pathetic attempts those cogsuckers call art? Prove it!
Did your ChatGPT therapist convince you that AI art is as good as real human-made art? Prove it!
There’s a lot of money on the line so let’s settle the debate.

What to Animate

The animations are based on the Windscribe location list nicknames. Open the Windscribe app (don’t worry it’s free), pick any two location nicknames from the list and make an animation using those nicknames as the premise.

Prizes
The total prize pool is $42,000 USD! It is split 60/40 - $25,000 for human-made animations, $17,000 for AI animations. Both sums are divided amongst the categories below. Each category will have both a human animation winner, and an AI animation winner.
Human Prize
$10,000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$7500
+ lifetime Pro
The roaring applause from the standing crowd fills the room as you stand atop the podium with your shiny trophy. You did it. You’ve conquered the competition and earned yourself the biggest prize, a fat stack of cheddar. Time to make a lot of grilled cheese.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
People shed two kinds of tears - the sad kind and the happy kind. And I guess the pepper spray kind. Oh and maybe cutting onions. Okay whatever there’s lots of tears but the ones we shed are from the happy laughter we got thanks to your creation.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
In the short span of your animation, you managed to create a character whose personality really shines through. Whether they’re funny, lovable, goofy, evil, snarky, or whatever else, you executed it tremendously. Now take this large sum of cash.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
A true artist isn’t satisfied with the mundane, they find a way to add their own visual magic touch to what they create. And the winner of this prize? Well let’s just say they got that special sauce which makes their creation a real pleasure to look at.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
We’re just out here vibing man, we chillin. And your animation, well it really vibes with us. Seriously dope stuff here, we’re like watching it and saying things like “woah” and “yooo” and “damn that’s tuff”.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
Not everyone is a talented visual artist, maybe you can only animate stick figures. Well, lucky for you, not every prize is about the visuals! You’ve wowed our auditory senses so much that the visuals can be considered secondary.
Human Prize
$2000
+ lifetime Pro
A.I Prize
$1250
+ lifetime Pro
Filling a 2 hour movie with a great story is a difficult task. But doing it in 30-60 seconds is even harder. And yet here you are, defying the odds and telling us a riveting tale. Bravo! *aggressively throws 53 roses at you one at a time*

Honorary Mentions
(10 WINNERS EACH)

Human Prize
$300
+ 1 year Pro
A.I Prize
$200
+ 1 year Pro
While these entries didn’t quite make it to the very top, they are certainly worth a watch and deserving of an honourable mention. Who are we kidding though, a few hundred bucks in this economy is basically a participation ribbon.

Rules

1
Animations must be at least 30 seconds, and no more than 60 seconds.
2
All submissions must follow the animation guidelines below.
3
Your submission must be related to the two location nicknames you chose and should aim to entertain.
4
Submissions must be animations only. No filmed content allowed in the final animation, with the exception of stop-motion and claymation.
5
AI submissions are not allowed in the human contest. Human-created submissions are welcome in either contest - beat the AI if you can!
6
You may not submit the SAME human-created animation into both contests.
7
Proof of Work is required to verify all submissions into the human contest.
8
You are allowed to collaborate with other people to create your animations. Keep in mind that prizes are awarded per animation, not per person.
9
You are free to choose any style of animation (2D, 3D, anime, vector, rotoscope, pixel-art, etc).
10
No copyrighted material of any kind is allowed. We cannot afford a Disney lawsuit.
11
A bit of foul language is okay, we’re pretty down with edginess.
12
No racism, sexism, or any of the other isms. Basically avoid being that one uncle at Thanksgiving dinner.
13
No nudity, we don’t have a dedicated Japanese hentai studio to do pixelation for us.
14
You can make multiple submissions, but only one submission per nickname combo per contest.
15
We reserve the right to disqualify any entry at any time, for any reason.
16
Submission deadline is March 26th, 2026 at 11:59PM EST.
17
You own your video, but by participating, you grant us all non-exclusive royalty-free rights to the video to use in any way what we see fit. We will always do our best to credit you.

Human Animation Guidelines

1
No use of generative AI is permitted whatsoever.
2
This includes generative fill, AI generated sounds/music, AI voices, AI-written scripts or any other Generative AI-powered tools/features/software that create aspects of your submission or artwork.
3
Traditional tools such as auto-tweening, motion smoothing, noise reduction, etc are permitted as long as they are not using generative AI.
4
No stock assets allowed, you must create everything.
You want to prove humans produce better art? Then you gotta do it by hand.

A.I Animation Guidelines

1
You are allowed to use any tools at your disposal, AI or not.
2
No stock assets allowed, generate your own.
If you're shouting at artists on X that they're out of a job, then let's see if you can actually compete with them.

Tech Specs

Resolution
1080p or 4k
Frame Rate
12 FPS minimum
File Format
MP4 (Uncompressed)
Orientation
Orientation: Portrait (9:16) or Landscape (16:9)
Filename
Animations: [Nickname1]-[Nickname2]-[username].mp4
Proof of Work: [Nickname1]-[Nickname2]-[username]-POW.mp4

How To Enter

1. DOWNLOAD WINDSCRIBE
Sign up for a Windscribe account and download the app (no payment or credit card required).
2. PICK A TOPIC
Open the Location List in the Windscribe app and pick any 2 locations.
3. Create IT
Create your animation using the nicknames as your premise. Include the 2 nicknames and your Windscribe username in the filename.
4. PROOF
For Human-made submissions, record a screen capture or evidence of your creation process workspace (eg. some layers and keyframes, pictures of clay characters, etc).
5. RETURN & UPLOAD
Submit both files (final animation + proof of work) using our Dropbox link.
Human Dropbox A.I Dropbox

Terms & Conditions