An ‘unreal’ flamingo image won an AI award. The only catch? It’s a real photograph

Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

(CNN) — As AI-generated images person begun creeping into art and photography contests complete nan past 2 years, sometimes fooling jurors and provoking worry and anger among artists, nan photographer Miles Astray decided it was clip to move nan tides. In an AI class astatine nan 1839 Awards’ Color Photography Contest, judged by manufacture leaders astatine Christie’s, Phaidon and nan Centre Pompidou, Astray pulled disconnected an enactment of feathery subterfuge, sneaking successful an introduction of a existent photograph of a flamingo he took while successful Aruba.

Like AI images, which tin carnivore hallmark signs of wonky anatomy, for illustration excessively galore teeth aliases fingers, nan flamingo appeared headless arsenic it bent its cervix to scratch itself pinch its beak.

To Astray’s surprise, it won some 3rd spot successful nan class — and nan People’s Vote award.

“To spot it get shortlisted by nan assemblage was a astonishment successful that it’s ever a spot of a lottery successful specified large contest. There are conscionable truthful galore fantabulous pictures competing,” Astray told CNN complete email. “After it sewage shortlisted… I thought I mightiness really person a changeable and started campaigning for people’s votes, but I had perfectly nary thought really acold aliases adjacent I was to winning until nan announcement.”

After nan winners were revealed, nan photographer notified nan statement that runs nan 1839 Awards, Creative Resource Collective, and took to societal media to uncover his trickery.

“I entered this existent photograph into nan AI class of 1839 Awards to beryllium that human-made contented has not mislaid its relevance, that Mother Nature and her quality interpreters tin still hit nan machine, and that productivity and emotion are much than conscionable a drawstring of digits,” Astray wrote. “There were ethical concerns, of course, truthful I was hoping that nan assemblage and nan assemblage would find that this jab astatine AI and its ethical implications outweighs nan ethical implications of deceiving nan viewer, which, of course, is ironic because that is what AI does.”

Astray was subsequently disqualified from nan competition, pinch nan head of Creative Resource Collective, Lily Fierman, explaining successful a connection to CNN that “each class has chopped criteria that entrants’ images must meet. … We don’t want to forestall different artists from their changeable astatine winning successful nan AI category.”

Fierman said there’s “no difficult feelings,” and that their squad plans to activity pinch Astray to people a speech astir nan authorities of AI-generated images, utilizing his introduction arsenic a “jumping-off point.”

“We dream this will raise consciousness (and nonstop a connection of hope) to different photographers who are worried astir AI,” she added.

Creative Resource Collective did not remark connected really their AI and non-AI photography categories are judged and vetted.

As for nan flamingo, Astray emphasized it was a serendipitous moment, not 1 that he sought out.

“I was not actively looking for a image that would activity for this stunt,” he explained to CNN. “Rather, nan thought had been roaming successful immoderate distant area of my mind, much subconsciously than consciously I think, and erstwhile I saw this picture, it surfaced. It is simply nan cleanable changeable for this because nan segment is truthful unreal and for specified a simple, earthy reason: a flamingo scratching its belly.”