An AI-Generated Photo Won a Major Photography Award. The Artist Refused the Prize to Expose the Judges.

In April 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsen entered an AI-generated image called 'PSEUDOMNESIA: The Electrician' into the Sony World Photography Awards — one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world. It won in its category. At the award ceremony, Eldagsen publicly refused the prize and revealed the image was entirely AI-generated, explaining he had entered specifically to test whether the judges could tell the difference. They couldn't. He said AI images and traditional photography 'are not the same' and called for a separate category. The World Photography Organisation said they felt 'misled.' The incident forced every major art and photography competition to urgently revise its AI submission policies.

AI ArtPhotography AwardSonyBoris EldagsenArt WorldSource
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🦅EST. 2024 · PUBLIC RECORDDEPT. OF AI WEIRDNESS
U.S. Department of
Artificial Intelligence Weirdness
Report #95← All Incidents
TrendingAI ArtPhotography AwardSonyBoris EldagsenArt World

An AI-Generated Photo Won a Major Photography Award. The Artist Refused the Prize to Expose the Judges.

Filed by @art_and_algorithmTool: AI Image Generation[original source ↗]
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In April 2023, German artist Boris Eldagsen entered an AI-generated image called 'PSEUDOMNESIA: The Electrician' into the Sony World Photography Awards — one of the most prestigious photography competitions in the world. It won in its category. At the award ceremony, Eldagsen publicly refused the prize and revealed the image was entirely AI-generated, explaining he had entered specifically to test whether the judges could tell the difference. They couldn't. He said AI images and traditional photography 'are not the same' and called for a separate category. The World Photography Organisation said they felt 'misled.' The incident forced every major art and photography competition to urgently revise its AI submission policies.

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9/10 — Deeply unhinged
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