UPDATE: Officials released the following statement on Wednesday, Nov. 19:
“The Downtown Bozeman Partnership Management Committee (PMC) has decided to refrain from printing and distributing Ghassane Moutaoukil's entry as the official 45th Annual Christmas Stroll Poster. This is due to largely to safety concerns of all parties involved and the businesses that sponsor this wonderful community event.
The purpose of the Christmas Stroll is to bring together the Bozeman community to kick off the holiday season, while also providing an opportunity to support over 100 downtown small businesses, Non-Profits, and business sponsors. The PMC has decided to instead showcase a photo of our beloved Holiday Spiders on the official Christmas Stroll Poster. This year, the fourth and final rebuilt spider will take its place along Main Street and be illuminated by Santa as part of Bozeman’s traditional kickoff to the holiday season.
We look forward to celebrating with you at the Stroll on December 6th!”
With a growing number of AI platforms accessible to the public, it’s becoming harder to tell what’s real and what’s generated by artificial intelligence. In Bozeman, recent examples have sparked debate.
One case that “broke the internet” was the announcement of the Christmas Stroll poster contest winner. The winning design quickly drew widespread accusations of being AI-generated — and not just a few, but a flood of them.
Can you tell what's real anymore? An MSU professor shares tips for spotting fake content
I reached out to the artist, Ghassane Moutaoukil, who responded to these claims. Reached via Facebook, Moutaoukil said he did not use AI to create the poster. He is a Montana State University graduate who now works in Washington, D.C., as a visual information specialist. He described his style as abstract illustration, a form he has been practicing for years.
“It intentionally exaggerates, simplifies, distorts, and stylizes elements to create mood and emotion. Not photographic accuracy,” Moutaoukil said. “I would never risk my reputation or integrity by using AI for something like this.”
The controversy highlights how difficult it can be to detect AI-generated art. To learn how to tell what’s real and what’s AI, I headed to MSU and spoke with Matthew Revelle, a computer science professor.
“AI has always been about getting computers to do things that humans can do easily,” Revelle said.
Revelle has taught computer science at MSU for three years and has been interested in the subject his entire life — starting as a kid who loved video games, ultimately earning his Ph.D. from George Mason University. He explained that generative AI can create original content, such as text, images, music, and code.
“At a glance, it can be really difficult to determine whether something is real,” Revelle said. “An important first step is if you see something that looks strange.”
Revelle demonstrated examples of AI videos found on social media.
Looking at one clip, he noted, “I would say the physics. Something looks slightly off.”
In another video, he pointed to shadows and lighting as potential giveaways. Other indicators of AI content, he said, include blurring, glowing, and visual inconsistencies.
When asked about the effectiveness of AI-detection websites, Revelle cautioned that because AI technology is advancing so rapidly, “It’s more difficult to do the detection than it is to do the generation.”
His advice on AI tools becoming more common? “Be skeptical. Just like when we read some article on the internet that makes a claim with little to no evidence, fact-checking is important.”
As for the Christmas Stroll controversy, the Downtown Bozeman Association says it is working on an AI policy for future contests. Moutaoukil donated the $200 prize he received from the competition to HRDC.
Moutaoukil’s full statement is listed below:
1. Tell me about yourself, what you studied at MSU, when you graduated, and what you do now.
My name is Ghassane Moutaoukil. I graduated from Montana State University with a Bachelor in Fine Arts & Graphic Design and a Minor in Photography. My years in Bozeman had a profound impact on me; they shaped my artistic voice and the illustration style I still use today.
I currently work in Washington D.C. as a Visual Information Specialist for a federal agency. My work focuses on designing high-level visual products such as official seals, logos, and branding system. Precision, clarity, and craftsmanship are central to everything I create.
Bozeman remains an important part of my life. I still travel back to Bozeman once or twice a year, whenever I can, it is home for me in many ways.
2. Tell me about your history in art. How did you get into graphic design, and how often do you create art like the Christmas Stroll poster?
I have been creating art since childhood. Drawing and painting were part of my life long before I ever touched digital tools, and by age 13 I was already working as a screen printer, an experience that taught me layered color, texture, and the discipline of hand-crafted illustration.
At Montana State University, I deepened that foundation through graphic design, printmaking, photography, and typography. Over the years, I developed a visual style strongly influenced by relief printmaking, especially linocut and woodcut. That influence still defines my work today: bold shapes, carved edges, layered lighting, stylized forms, and an emphasis on mood and emotion. Alongside illustration, I also design custom typefaces and enjoy exploring typography. Creating letters by hand requires precision, patience, and deep artistic understanding. This work reinforces my attention to detail and strengthens my overall creative process.
I also enjoy digital painting and experimenting with new methods whenever inspiration comes. I’ve always loved learning, evolving, and finding new ways to express ideas.
This style and artistic approach have been part of my practice for more than a decade. Between 2014 and 2018, many years before AI tools existed, I created multiple illustrations in this exact visual language. Those earlier pieces still exist with their original timestamps. Ironically, when I tested some of those older works in AI detectors, they were marked as “97% AI,” which shows how flawed those tools can be.
I create artwork regularly professionally for clients and agencies, and personally for my own artistic growth, always within this handmade, relief-inspired style that I’ve been building and refining for many years.
3. How have you felt since the announcement, and what do you want the public to know?
When I first learned I had won, I felt honored and grateful. I love Bozeman, it’s where I studied, where I grew as an artist, and where many important memories in my life were created. Winning this poster competition truly meant a lot to me.
Then very suddenly, the celebration turned into intense criticism. A small group of people began attacking the artwork aggressively, largely because they misunderstood abstract illustration and misunderstood how unreliable AI-detection tools are.
One of the hardest parts has been watching people spend hours trying to find “mistakes” in an artwork that is intentionally stylized. Abstract illustration is not realism. It intentionally exaggerates, simplifies, distorts, and stylizes elements to create mood and emotion, not photographic accuracy. Many of the critiques came from misunderstanding the artistic style, not from any factual issue with the work. I also felt targeted because I won two major Bozeman competitions back-to-back. When jealousy mixes with misinformation, people can create narratives that simply aren’t true.
But I want to emphasize something important:
Most of Bozeman has shown tremendous support. Former professors, friends, artists, and community members reached out with kindness, and I’m deeply grateful for that.
What I want the public to know is simple:
I created this artwork entirely myself. I used the same relief-inspired style I’ve used for many years, long before AI existed. And I would never risk my reputation or integrity by using AI for something like this. Art comes from emotion, memory, and personal experience. There is a soul and intentionality behind every line I draw. AI cannot recreate that. If someone looks at the poster expecting realism, they will naturally see “imperfections.” But in abstract illustration, those choices are what create the atmosphere, rhythm, and feeling of the scene. Despite the negativity, I’m thankful that many people now understand my artistic process more clearly and that the truth has a chance to be seen.
