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 – 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 “AI generated” 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. “It 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.
“Of 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.”
Shortly after the lack of AI involvement became clear, Astray was stripped of his award – which carries a cash prize – and two other creators were awarded the bronze medal and people’s choice award instead.
“AI can already produce incredibly real-looking content, and if that content meets an unquestioning eye, you can easily deceive entire audiences,” Astray said.
“Up until now, we never had much of a reason to question the authenticity of photos, videos and audios. This has changed overnight and we’ll need to adapt to this. It has never been more important to be questioning. That’s an individual responsibility that will be even more crucial than tagging and flagging AI-content.”
In a statement, the competition’s organisers said Astray had a “powerful message” but the photo’s entry was nonetheless unfair. “Each category has distinct criteria that entrants’ images must meet. His submission did not meet the requirements for the AI-generated image category. We understand that was the point, but we don’t 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.”
Astray’s 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 “creative open” category, arguing that it was a complex work to create. “The process has many steps, it’s not putting in three words and clicking ‘generate’,” he told the Guardian in 2023.
The Sony judges insisted they always understood that AI was involved in Eldagsen’s image and said it was disqualified for being a completely artificial generation. “We no longer feel we are able to engage in a meaningful and constructive dialogue with him,” the judges said in a statement.
For Astray, the confusion is the point. “If the amount of seemingly real fakes in circulation keeps increasing, it’ll be hard to keep up with what’s real and what’s not,” he said. “I couldn’t live the life I’m living without technology, so I don’t demonise it, but I think its often a double-edged sword with the potential to do both good and harm.”