No matter which IGF chooses, I believe awards will ultimately bifurcate: some other contest will emerge for the other side.
I don't think that's bad, nor do I think allowing AI means "not giving a shit."
That's not the dichotomy I think. It's more "does doing XYZ ethically invalidate the achievement". If I go plagiarize the Big Walk code base and add a new feature, well, I've surpassed their game as the new best indie game actually. But obviously we would and should throw my game away. So it's not just "which game is best, the ends justify the means".
But that's a claim and not a universal truth. I don't think there's anything ethically wrong with using AI to create a game (even artwork), and clearly House House didn't think there was anything wrong with using AI for debugging.
The fact that AI-use is controversial--meaning different people disagree--is what makes me think that we'll end up with a bifurcation. There will be communities that accept it and those that reject it.