Sony World Photography Award-winning photograph was crafted using AI
Boris Eldagsen, the winner of a major photography award, has refused his prize after revealing that his entry was crafted using AI. The German artist entered a photograph entitled Pseudomnesia: The Electrician, which won the creative open category at last week’s Sony World Photography Award. He has said that he used the photo to stimulate discussion about the future of photography.
Organisers of the Sony World Photography Award have since confirmed that Eldagsen deliberately misled them about the extent to which AI would be involved in the creation of his prize-winning picture.
In a post shared on his website, Eldagsen confessed to having been a “cheeky monkey”. He also thanked the judges for choosing his photo and “making this a historic moment” before pondering whether anyone on the panel “knew or suspected that it was AI-generated”.
The statement continues: “AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this. They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.” Eldagsen’s win validates the concerns of artists who fear AI will complicate or nullify their profession. As the artist said of his own work: “Something about this doesn’t feel right, does it?” That something, of course, being the fact that it’s not a real photograph at all – but a synthetically-produced image.”
