‘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,’ says Miles Astray of his winning photo, pictured.‘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,’ says Miles Astray of his winning photo, pictured.
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 1839Astray, 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.
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,” he said.
In a statement, the competition’s organisers said that 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.