Sony World Photography Awards: Boris Eldagsen rejects the price for the image generated by AI-AI

Cnn
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A German artist rejected a prize for a prestigious international photography competition after revealing that his submission was generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

Boris Eldagsen, based in Berlin, won the Creative Open category at this year’s Sony World photography prize with its entry “Pseudomnesia: The Electrican”.

The strange image in black and white shows two women of different generations – the older woman seeming to hang on to the young woman from behind.

The organizers said they had been informed of an IA involvement, but said there had been “deliberate” attempts to mislead them.

Eldagsen said he hoped that his actions would open up the conversation around the problem and lead to “separate competitions for the images generated by AI”.

Eldagsen said in a shared statement on his website that he had been a “cheeky monkey” in order to open the conversation around artificially generated images.

“Thank you for selecting my image and making it a historic moment, because it is the first image generated by the AI ​​to be won in a prestigious international photography competition (sic). How many of you knew or suspected that it was generated by AI? Something about this does not seem well, isn’t it?”

He continued: “The images and photography of the AI ​​should not compete with others in a price like this. These are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore, I will not accept the price.”

He said he had applied “as a cheeky monkey” to find out if the competitions “are prepared for AI images to enter. They are not ”.

Eldagsen told CNN on Tuesday: “This shows that at the moment, the photographic world was taken by surprise after this development that subtly you can create images that look like photography, but you don’t need to have the skills and expertise of photographers.”

He said the AI ​​had left many photographers feeling “threatened and frightened to lose their jobs that will occur”.

Eldagsen said that his intention was not to create trouble, but to open an important conversation.

“It was not a question of winning anything,” he said. “I just did a test to see if they were aware – like a pirate who harass a system not to use it, but to see if there are weaknesses.”

In other statements on his website, he said that he had informed the organizers of IA involvement.

The organizers said that 2023 had seen the greatest number of entries in the 16 years of prize history. More than 415,000 images have been entered in this year’s competitions, more than 180,000 of which are eligible for professional categories.

Three finalists, as well as five to seven preselected photographers, were chosen in each category. The selected images were taken by photographers of more than 30 countries in places ranging from an abandoned cement plant in China to a fish market in Somalia.

The World Photography Organization, which runs the competition, said in a statement on Tuesday that, during the exchange of competition with Eldagsen before announcing it as a category winner on March 14, it had confirmed the “co-creation” of this image using AI.

“The creative category of open competition welcomes various experimental approaches to the creation of images, cyanotypes and rayographies to advanced digital practices,” said the organizers.

“As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the guarantees he provided, we estimated that his entry fulfilled the criteria in this category, and we were supported by his participation.

“As he [Eldagsen] Now decided to refuse its price, we have suspended our activities with him and, in accordance with his wishes, have withdrawn from the competition. Given his actions and his subsequent declaration noting his deliberate attempts to deceive us, and therefore invalidate the guarantees he has provided, we no longer think that we are able to engage in a significant and constructive dialogue with him. »»

The press release indicates that the organizers recognize “the importance of this subject and its impact on the creation of images today”.

“While the elements of AI practices are relevant in the artistic contexts of image creation, prices have always been and will continue to be a platform to defend the excellence and skills of photographers and artists working in the medium,” added the World Photography Organization.

Image of the top: image generated by Boris Eldagsen entitled “Pseudomnesia: the electrician” was submitted to the Sony World Photography Awards 2023 and won the first prize in the Creative Open category.