Ever since the advent of generative AI, the age-old battle of man v machine has been looking decidedly one-sided. But one photographer, intent on making the case for pictures captured with the human eye, has taken the fight to his algorithm-powered rivals â and won.
Miles Astray subverted the idea of artificially generated pictures muscling in on human photography awards by submitting his own human-made image, Flamingone, to the AI category in a prestigious competition.
The striking image, an orb of pink feathers standing on top of two knobbly legs, convinced a panel of judges to award him third place in the âAI generatedâ category of the 1839 Awards.
Astray, 38, says he was motivated to break the rules after a spate of AI-generated images winning conventional photography contests. âIt occurred to me that I could twist this story inside down and upside out the way only a human could and would, by submitting a real photo into an AI competition.
âOf course, I deliberately chose a picture that is so surreal, to the point of unbelievable, that it could easily be attributed to AI being at play.â
Shortly after the lack of AI involvement became clear, Astray was stripped of his award â which carries a cash prize â and two other creators were awarded the bronze medal and peopleâs choice award instead.
âAI can already produce incredibly real-looking content, and if that content meets an unquestioning eye, you can easily deceive entire audiences,â Astray said.
âUp until now, we never had much of a reason to question the authenticity of photos, videos and audios. This has changed overnight and weâll need to adapt to this. It has never been more important to be questioning. Thatâs an individual responsibility that will be even more crucial than tagging and flagging AI-content.â
In a statement, the competitionâs organisers said Astray had a âpowerful messageâ but the photoâs entry was nonetheless unfair. âEach category has distinct criteria that entrantsâ images must meet. His submission did not meet the requirements for the AI-generated image category. We understand that was the point, but we donât want to prevent other artists from their shot at winning in the AI category. We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to other photographers worried about AI.â
Astrayâs victory comes a year after a German artist, Boris Eldagsen, made headlines for winning a Sony World Photography award with an AI-generated image. Eldagsen defended his decision to enter the image, in the âcreative openâ category, arguing that it was a complex work to create. âThe process has many steps, itâs not putting in three words and clicking âgenerateâ,â he told the Guardian in 2023.
The Sony judges insisted they always understood that AI was involved in Eldagsenâs image and said it was disqualified for being a completely artificial generation. âWe no longer feel we are able to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him,â the judges said in a statement.
For Astray, the confusion is the point. âIf the amount of seemingly real fakes in circulation keeps increasing, itâll be hard to keep up with whatâs real and whatâs not,â he said. âI couldnât live the life Iâm living without technology, so I donât demonise it, but I think its often a double-edged sword with the potential to do both good and harm.â
