When Denver Mayor Mike Johnston announced the Vibrant Denver bond proposal in February, his team passed out stickers with a logo for the bond campaign. It included colorful trees, a city skyline and a majestic mountain range.
The logo didn’t look too unusual, except that the skyline didn’t look much like Denver’s.
A month later, when Johnston and other city officials started holding community meetings about the bond package, many of them wore shirts with the logo. But, mysteriously enough, the logo had changed.
Put side by side, the two logos look similar enough. The colorful palette matches and the basic elements are all there: trees, skyscrapers and mountains. But if you look closer, you’ll spot differences.
The original has two circles in the sky. Its buildings are covered in unusual markings. There are some indistinguishable blobs among the trees.
If that description is raising some generative artificial intelligence art alarms, your instincts are right. The city’s finance department confirmed its team used the design program Canva’s generative AI art features to create the first logo.
“After producing some materials with that early logo, we recognized some issues with the design,” said department spokesperson Joshua Rosenblum.
The second logo was created by a city graphic designer and looks a lot cleaner. Gone are the twin suns and the weird, squiggly lines. Instead, you’ll see the neoclassical architecture of the City and County of Denver building and the Wells Fargo cash register building.
Denverite asked a mayoral spokesperson whether the city has an internal AI policy that touches on generative AI, but hasn’t received a concrete answer yet.
Denver has leaned into AI
Johnston has promoted artificial intelligence, notably hosting the inaugural DenAI Summit, which was marketed as “the first major city-led convening of the artificial intelligence (AI) community focused on how to use artificial intelligence for good.”
The event boasted speakers like LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.
AI technology offers more than sloppy generative art. It’s been promoted as a way to improve efficiency, enhance public safety and optimize city resources.
And it appears Johnston continues to agree. On Thursday, the city’s Department of Technology Services put out a call for AI vendors who can help “transform city operations and improve the resident experience”.
"The ideas discussed at DenAI Summit last fall showcased the potential of AI to transform our city for the better,” Johnston said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to continue that momentum and find partners who share our commitment to responsible AI development to create innovative solutions that serve Denverites every day."
The city is looking for vendors who can “deliver innovative, scalable, and secure AI solutions that are tailored to the city’s needs”.
Leaders at the statewide level are keeping a close eye on AI usage. Last year, lawmakers passed a law that regulates the use of AI and launched a task force to examine the issue.
