An artist won the Sony World Photography Awards, but he refuses the prize. Because the image is not from him, but from an AI.
The German artist Boris Eldagsen participated and won last week at the “Sony World Photography Awards” with the image Pseudomnesia: The Electrician in the creative open category. The “Sony World Photography Awards” are among the most important prizes in photography.
However, the German artist declined the prize. He explains that the photo was generated by AI and was not taken by him at all. He says about the award ceremony (via pcgamer.com):
I applied as a cheeky monkey to find out if competitions are prepared for the participation of AI images. They are not.
(…)
AI images and photography should not compete for an award like this. They are different things. AI is not photography. Therefore, I will not accept the award.
What are the reactions? A spokesman for the Sony Photography Awards stated to the BBC that they excluded Eldagsen from the competition. Since he declined the award, they separated from him at his request.
Is this unusual? Such actions with AI are used as a gimmick, for example to show what the last selfie looks like that will ever be taken on Earth. The AI uses existing images to assemble a new image.
However, this approach is heavily debated: There are currently no clear rules regarding AI images or artworks. That is why there are often artists and people who want to point out the lack of certain regulations with actions like the competition.
AI is hotly contested among artists
The use of artificial intelligence in the artistic environment is highly controversial. After the AI Midjourney won an award at a competition, the first ones predicted the death of art. This also includes AI programs like ChatGPT from OpenAI, as some fear that AI could eventually take over their jobs.
Our editor-in-chief finds a lot of relaxation regarding artificial intelligence and its products:
