This #AI image just won a photo contest; is it a harbinger of things to come?
Australian design studio Absolutely AI entered the image into a contest as an "experiment"
The image of surfers captured from a bird’s-eye view is exquisite. The breaking waves are aglow, as if set on fire by the rising sun. A riderless surfboard bobs in the white water, ejected from a giant curl that is still violently crashing on the shore.
It is a scene that could have been shot from a drone but, of course, I wouldn’t be writing about it if it were. It’s an AI-generated image created by Absolutely AI, an art and design studio based in Sydney, Australia.
And the reason that I’m writing about this particular image is because Absolutely AI entered it into a photo contest … and won. It wasn’t quite the “top photography award” that Absolutely AI’s IG account describes, but rather, one of those themed promotional contests that brands like to run.
In this case, it was digiDirect’s weekly contest with the theme “SUMMER.” The Australian consumer electronics retailer offered a $100 gift voucher to the winner. So, while World Press Photo contest this was not, it was a legitimate contest where Absolutely AI’s image competed against and beat out real photos.
Perhaps, as Absolutely AI boasts, the image is “the world’s first AI generated award-winning photograph.” It’s certainly not the first AI-image to create a stir by winning an award. Last fall, Jason Allen won the Colorado State Fair’s fine arts competition with an image he created on Midjourney. His victory caused artists all over the world to rupture their collective spleen.
I doubt that Absolutely AI’s victory will end up much more than a footnote in the annals of AI-art controversies.
I reached out to Absolutely AI founder Jamie Sissons to talk about the image and the contest, and while he was apparently too busy to respond to my questions, he was kind enough to forward me his response to questions posed by someone else.
That’s cool and all. I just wish the other person had asked more interesting questions.
Sissons, a photographer and filmmaker, says his company explores “how AI technology can influence creativity and bring new ways of self-expression to light.”
Responding to a question about his motivation in entering the contest, Sissons wrote:
“We're at a point now where Machine may be the superior creator to Man. Artificially intelligent technology has the capacity to learn from the masters of photography, painting and other creative endeavours to produce something entirely new and jaw-dropping. This technology is equally incredible and terrifying from a creator's point of view. And this is just the beginning. In five years, things will look very different.
The barriers to creating something truly eye-catching have never been lower. Our award-winning 'photograph' is a good example of that.
We didn't need to wake up at sunrise, drive to the beach and send the drone up to capture this image of surfers paddling against the waves. No, we created this image from our couch in Sydney by entering text into a computer program.”
I also reached out to digiDirect through their IG account but their chatbot was less than helpful.
However, for Absolutely AI’s part, they came clean and admitted on IG they had entered the contest as an “experiment” to see if the image could slip by unnoticed through the judging process. They also said they returned the cash prize, though I’m guessing no cash actually changed hands.
I imagine we’re going to see some much bigger controversies in the days to come when it comes to AI-generated art entered into much more prestigious photo contests. I can guarantee you that the bigger photo contests have already taken a look at their judging processes to make sure they aren’t fooled by someone who wants to do a similar “experiment” at their expense.
All the big contests reserve the right to see a photographer’s “raw” image file, which is the initial unprocessed, unfiltered image file that a digital camera’s sensor creates. That’s the one thing that AI can’t fake – at least not yet.
One thing that we can probably be certain about is that some of the tell-tale AI giveaways – extra fingers, unnatural looking hands, too many teeth, creepy gaping mouths, non-symmetrical eyes, uneven catchlights, etc. – are not going to be discernible by the end of this year. AI technology is improving and advancing literally faster than I can write this sentence.
We are at the point where someone can easily pass off an AI image as a human-made photo but my money is still on the human artist in a one-on-one match-up pitting AI against the best human photographers. The spark of creativity and the emotion that artists can imbue into their work still matters.
But … the gap is narrowing.
You can follow Joe Newman on Instagram at @most_sublime_media.