Last Update: April 19, 2023, 04:47 AM IST
In its initial response, the award body said it was hoping to engage the artist in a discussion about AI, but had withdrawn the work in deference to her wishes. (Picture: AFP)
Last year, an AI-generated artwork won an award at the Colorado State Fair, sparking self-discovery in the art world
A German artist has sparked an angry row after winning a prestigious photography award with an entry generated by artificial intelligence.
Boris Aldugsen eventually dismissed Gong from the Sony World Photography Awards after concluding that such competitions were not yet equipped to handle AI entries.
Awards organizers initially accused the artist of “deceptive” behavior, but on Tuesday dropped the allegation with a subsequent statement following a furious response from Aldegsen.
Many photographers and artists fear their livelihoods are at risk from AI tools that allow anyone to create striking images with just a quick text prompt.
The rapid rise of AI image generators has already led to legal cases, as the tools are “trained” on vast numbers of images – many of which may be copyright protected.
Last year, an AI-generated artwork won an award at the Colorado State Fair, prompting soul-searching in the art world.
The Sony World Photography Awards announced Eldagsen’s entry as the winner of its creative category in mid-March—a sepia-toned image of two women titled “Pseudomnesia: The Electrician.”
Eldagsen gave interviews at the time explaining how he worked and said he wanted to spark a debate on AI.
However, he wrote last week that “AI images and photography should not compete with each other in such an award” and rejected the award.
“I applied as a cheeky monkey to find out if AI images are ready to be entered into competitions. They are not,” he wrote.
In its initial response, the award body said it was hoping to engage the artist in a discussion about AI, but had withdrawn the work “in keeping with her wishes”.
Its statement said: “Given their actions and subsequent statement taking into account their deliberate attempts to mislead us, and therefore invalidate the warranties they have provided, we no longer feel that we can able to engage in a meaningful and constructive conversation with.”
But Eldagsen wrote on his website that it was “nonsense” to suggest that award bodies were willing to engage.
“He had so many options to use it for good. He didn’t use any of them,” he wrote, accusing her of ignoring questions from the media and other photographers.
The organizers later sent an edited version of the statement to AFP that removed the allegation that they had been misled but insisted they were prepared to engage Aldagsen and AI in the debate.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)
