Artist Boris Eldagsen, winner of the 2023 Sony World Photography Award, declined the award after revealing the snap that crowned him was created by artificial intelligence.
Artificial intelligence is able to generate images of the Pope in a down jacket or Emmanuel Macron as a garbage collector. But also shots capable of winning prestigious photography prizes. This is the case of Pseudomnesia: The Electrician, the work of German artist Boris Eldagsen. This photograph, a black and white portrait of two women, won the “Creation” prize at the 2023 Sony World Photography Award last week.
However, this shot was not taken by a camera but generated largely by an artificial intelligence reports BBC News. Boris Eldagsen, who explained that he presented this image in order to test the seriousness of the competition and to stimulate a debate on the future of photography, refused the prize after revealing the nature of the author of his work.
“I will not accept this price”
“AI-generated images and traditional photography should not be competed for in an award like this. They are different entities. Artificial intelligence is not photography. It is why I will not accept this price”, he justified in a statement published on his website.
The artist, who portrays himself as a “cheeky monkey” and thanks the judges for having selected his photo making this event “a historic moment”, also says that he wishes to accelerate through his initiative “the process of becoming aware of this difference by the prize organizers and create separate competitions for AI-generated images”.
He also explains that he wanted to let the whole world know that a jury, as prestigious as it is, is incapable of differentiating between an original photo and an image shaped by artificial intelligence.
According to CBS News, the German artist had explained to the organizers beforehand that his work had been produced in partnership with an artificial intelligence. But he did not indicate to what extent he had used this tool, underlines a spokesperson for the World Photography Organisation. The use of artificial intelligence was not a problem because the category in which Boris Eldagsen’s work competed accepted photographs produced in different ways.
In fact “following our correspondence with Boris and the guarantees he gave us, we felt that his work met the criteria for this category and we encouraged him to participate”, continues the spokesperson for the World Photography Organization.
