Sony World Photography winning photograph is AI-generated image

[Mickeyess]

I guess this should not surprise anyone.
"Sony World Photography Award winner Boris Eldagsen from Germany has refused to accept his trophy, revealing his prize-winning photo is an AI-generated image. The picture, a haunting black and white portrait of two women from different generations, which looks similar to a 1940s family portrait, won the award in the open competition for single images..

That said, it is IMHO a very nice image, but not photography.

Sony World Photography Award-winning photograph turns out to be AI-generated image

 

[Papa Tango]

I read this just this morning in a similar article on CNN.

Artist rejects photo prize after AI-generated image wins award

A German artist has rejected an award from a prestigious international photography competition after revealing that his submission was generated by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

www.cnn.com

As an aside, things are a bit more liberal here--the works of others may be posted if the sole purpose is editorial review and/or constructive commentary. Throw in a bit of exegesis and semiotic analysis, and we have copyright and fair use covered. Oh, and don't forget those citations...

Credit: Boris Eldagsen

This is a tremendous and powerful image. The tone, character, and subjects throw my mind to the late 1930s into the 1940s. Stylistically, it leans toward Carl Van Vechten--but not quite so. There are other elements also drawn from other photographers, but I can't put my finger on it.

The ephemeral past is called up through artifacts that resemble a damaged negative. Oh, it's damned good.

I don't discredit this image on the grounds of its merit as a powerful image. Nor do I argue that SOMETHING should be apparent to identify it as what it is (the label is courtesy of CNN). Frankly, I don't really understand what I think yet... Brave new world and all. Add to this the fact that prestigious judges of a prestigious award org voted it to the top. That is bothersome.

My new Fuji X-T5 claims to have AI. The Fringer adapter on it claims to have AI. Photoshop is already smarter than I am. But I can honestly say that the only AI there consists of Jamisons and weed...

 

[InOneEye]

Boris Eldagsen ai image …. this is the full image as submitted . AI struggles with generating hands.

Eldagsen website
Discussing his long time pursuit to open a dialogue on AI

 

[InOneEye]

Like Eldagsen I think it is time to consider…

“Promptography [ai] is done with prompts. Photography is done with light,” Eldagsen told the BBC. “I think it’s very important to differentiate these [two things] by terms, and then to have an open discussion about this in the photography world. Is the umbrella of photography large enough to say [this type of imagery] is part of it? Because the visual language is the same.”