A German artist whose AI-generated image won first prize at one of the world’s top photography competitions has declined the award 

Berlin-based “photomedia” artist Boris Eldagsen submitted his image, “The Electrician,” to the Creative category of the 2023 World Photography Organization’s Sony World Photography Awards open competition.

The picture, which appears to be a dated black-and-white portrait of two women, is part of Eldagsen’s “Pseudomnesia: Fake Memories” series(Opens in a new window). Based on the Latin term for fake memory (“such as a spurious recollection of events that never took place, as opposed to a memory that is merely inaccurate,” the project page said), the images were “co-produced” using artificial intelligence generators.

The photo—which, if you look long enough, will reveal itself to be just a little bit wrong—was shortlisted in the Creative category, and eventually selected as the overall winner on March 14.

At the time, Eldagsen, who’s been a photographer since 1989, wrote in a blog post(Opens in a new window) that he was “very happy” to have won, while also acknowledging that the work “is the result of a complex interplay of prompt engineering, inpainting, and outpainting that draws on my wealth of photographic knowledge.

“For me, working with AI image generators is a co-creation, in which I am the director,” he said. “It is not about pressing a button—and done it is. It is about exploring the complexity of this process, starting with refining text prompts, then developing a complex workflow, and mixing various platforms and techniques. The more you create such a workflow and define parameters, the higher your creative part becomes.”

A month later, Eldagsen took to the same blog to announce his refusal of the prize, asking audiences and judges how many “knew or suspected” the image was artificially generated.

“AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this,” he wrote last week. “They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.” Instead, he suggested the World Photography Organization donate his prize—$5,000, Sony digital imaging equipment, a trip to the award ceremony in London, and more—to Fotofestiwal 2023, an international festival of photography in Poland.

“I applied as a cheeky monkey, to find out if the competitions are prepared for AI images to enter,” Eldagsen continued. “They are not. We, the photo world, need an open discussion. A discussion about what we want to consider photography and what not. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to invite AI images to enter—or would that be a mistake? With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate.”

The WPO was, it turns out, aware of Eldagsen’s AI “co-creation,” a spokesperson told PCMag in an emailed statement, adding that “as per the rules of the competition, the photographers provide the warranties of their entry.

“The Creative category of the Open competition welcomes various experimental approaches to image making from cyanotypes and rayographs to cutting-edge digital practices,” the organization said. “As such, following our correspondence with Boris and the warranties he provided, we felt that his entry fulfilled the criteria for this category, and we were supportive of his participation.”

But “in keeping with his wishes,” the WPO removed Eldagsen from the competition—including replacing the display copy of “The Electrician” at the exhibition in London.

“We recognize the importance of this subject and its impact on image-making today,” the group says. “We look forward to further exploring this topic via our various channels and programmes and welcome the conversation around it. While elements of AI practices are relevant in artistic contexts of image-making, the Awards always have been and will continue to be a platform for championing the excellence and skill of photographers and artists working in the medium.”

This AI robot was made to be your best friend