CNN
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A German artist has refused an award from a prestigious international photography competition after revealing that his submission was generated by artificial intelligence (AI).
Berlin-based Boris Eldagsen won the open creative category of this year’s Sony World Photography Award with his project “Pseudomnesia: The Electrician.”
This strange black and white image shows two women from different generations: the older woman appears to be clinging to the younger woman from behind.
Organizers said they were informed of the AI’s involvement, but claimed there had been “deliberate” attempts to mislead them.
Eldagsen said he hoped his actions would open up debate on the issue and lead to “separate competitions for AI-generated images.”
Eldagsen said in a statement shared on his website that he had been a “cheeky monkey” in an effort to open up the conversation around artificially generated images.
“Thank you for selecting my image and making this moment a historic one, as it is the first AI-generated image to win a prestigious international PHOTOGRAPHY competition. How many of you knew or suspected that it was generated by AI? There is something wrong with this, isn’t there?”
He continued: “AI images and photography should not be competing in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. That’s why I will not accept the award.”
He said he applied “as a cheeky monkey” to find out if the competitions “are set up so that AI images can participate. They are not.”
Eldagsen told CNN on Tuesday: “It shows that right now the world of photography has been taken by surprise by this development: you can subtly create images that look like photography, but you don’t need the skills and expertise of photographers.”
He said AI had left many photographers feeling “threatened and afraid of losing their jobs, which is going to happen.”
Eldagsen said his intention was not to create trouble, but to open an important conversation.
“It wasn’t about winning anything,” he said. “I was just testing to see if they knew about it – like a hacker hacking into a system not to exploit it, but to see if there are any weaknesses.”
In other statements on his website, he said he informed organizers of AI’s involvement.
Organizers said the 2023 edition had the highest number of entries in the contest’s 16-year history. More than 415,000 images were submitted to this year’s competitions, with more than 180,000 eligible for professional categories.
Three finalists and five to seven shortlisted photographers were selected in each category. The selected images were taken by photographers from over 30 countries in locations ranging from an abandoned cement factory in China to a fish market in Somalia.
The World Photography Organization, which runs the competition, told CNN in a statement Tuesday that in the competition’s discussions with Eldagsen before announcing him as the category winner on March 14, he confirmed the “co-creation” of the image using AI.
“The creative category of the open competition welcomes a variety of experimental approaches to image-making, from cyanotypes and rayographs to cutting-edge digital practices,” the organizers said.
“As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the assurances he provided to us, we considered that his application met the criteria for this category and supported his participation. Furthermore, we looked forward to engaging in a more in-depth discussion on this topic and welcomed Boris’s desire for dialogue by preparing questions for a dedicated Q&A session with him on our website.
” Like him [Eldagsen] “The winner has now decided to withhold his award, we have suspended our activities with him and, in accordance with his wishes, we have withdrawn him from the competition. Given his actions and his subsequent statement alleging his deliberate attempts to mislead us, and thus invalidate the assurances he provided, we no longer believe we are in a position to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him.”
The statement said the organizers recognize “the importance of this topic and its impact on image-making today.”
“While some elements of AI practices are relevant in artistic image-making contexts, the awards have always been and will continue to be a platform to champion the excellence and craftsmanship of photographers and artists working in this field,” the World Photography Organization added.
Top image: Boris Eldagsen’s AI-generated image “Pseudomnesia: The Electrician” was submitted to the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards and won first prize in the open creative category.
