A German photographer has turned down a prestigious prize after admitting his winning photo was created by artificial intelligence (AI).
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Boris Eldagsen won the Open Creative category at the Sony World Photography Awards with his photograph of two women from different generations in black and white.
On his website, he notes that he submitted his application like a “cheeky monkey” to see if the competition was ready to face AI-generated images.
“They don’t,” he shares. AI and photography should not compete for a prize like this.”
“Artificial intelligence is not photography,” he adds. So I will not accept the price.”
A spokesperson for the World Photography Organization told The Guardian that Mr Eldaksen had pre-confirmed his ‘co-creation’ using AI before he emerged as the winner of the competition.
Judges considered the photographer’s photo to be within the rules, considering which category it belonged to.
“The creation category of the competition accepts different experimental approaches to create images from cyanotypes and radiographs, confirms this spokesperson contacted by The Guardian. Therefore, we believe that his application met the criteria for this category.
Boris Edkelsen notes in his press release that an even deeper debate in the world of photography is “necessary about what counts as photography and what doesn’t.”
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