The images created by artificial intelligence are often more real than true. SO an American photographer, Miles Astray, wanted to trap our intelligence, real human beings. “I had seen several examples of people who submitted images created by AI in photo competitions, and who won. It made me want to turn things around“, he explains to France Inter. For the “1839 Awards”, a photographic prize, he therefore proposed an image with a surrealist air, representing a headless pink flamingo.
Except that this pink flamingo is a very real photo, and the absence of the flamingo’s head is explained by the fact that the bird… is simply scratching itself. “When I took this photo and looked at it, I realized it was the perfect photo to do this.“, says the photographer.
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A photo disqualified… but supported by the jury
Result: the photo won not only the public prize, but also one of the prizes awarded by a jury of professionals. For the author of the image, the message is twofold. “As I am more of the type to see the glass half full, for me, it is a victory for humans. This confirms my hypothesis that nature always remains more creative than a machine“. He also does not refute the more cynical side of the victory of this photo: “This is also the message: technology has reached such a point that for certain productions, we cannot tell the difference with certain photos“.
Once the pot aux roses was revealed, the photo was disqualified and the victory was taken away from Miles Astray. “It was the right decision”, admits the photographer who says: “I felt bad at the idea of having misled the jury, there was an ethical question, but I hoped that they would support the message, or at least unless they understand it“. But beyond this disqualification, it is support that he received from the co-founder of the prize, Lily Fierman: “When I received her email announcing my disqualification, at the same time she told me that she appreciated the message, that she hoped it would give hope to photographers and creators who are worried advances in AI“.
