Lancashire Photography Festival is on in Preston until the end of September. You can download the festival map here.

PSEUDOMNESIA | The Electrician

The world’s most famous and controversial AI image is now on display in Preston, Lancashire.

The image – printed to almost four metres in height – is on display at Sykes Street Car Park, the site of the former Tokyo Jo’s nightclub, alongside six large-scale war images taken in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The Electrician image – created by Artificial Intelligence (AI) – controversially won the creative category of the Sony World Photography Awards in April 2023.

Its creator Boris Eldagsen then refused to accept the award, stating that the organisation, and other photography competitions, was not prepared for the impact of AI on photography.

The German artist believes AI-generated images are not photography and should not compete with photographs.

Read The Guardian’s article on the controversy here.

In the past six months AI has hit the headlines after a surge in use via chatbots, driverless cars and song-writing software. Fears of control and the impact AI could have over mankind have been widely reported.

But it is through photography where the impact of AI has been most graphically demonstrated. Social media applications like Instagram have been flooded with AI images, with many undetectable from real photography.

AI images pose a huge threat to authenticity, particularly around news-related events where fake images are becoming almost impossible to spot, leading to misinformation and an increase in fake news circulation.

Eldagsen’s image is displayed as part of Lancashire Photography Festival to highlight the issue of AI – and also increase awareness of its possible impact on society.

AI as an artform is here to stay. But many argue it is simple plagiarism – copying and theft – as AI-generated content relies of computer algorithms reading and learning from existing information. Others believe the creative possibilities are endless – and exciting.

Lancashire Photography Festival is the UK’s largest outdoor photography festival, with projects from some of the world’s best photographers on display across the streets and parks of Preston, Lancashire.

Boris Eldagsen artist statement:

PSEUDOMNESIA | The Electrician

This image is questioning the relationship between photography and promptography (= AI-generated images).

BACKGROUND STORY
I applied to the Sony World Photography Awards to find out whether major photography competitions are prepared for the submission of AI-generated images.

When guidelines were not adapted in this respect, I submitted the image THE ELECTRICIAN without any information to test the system.

Early March I was informed that I was the winner of the Creative Category/Open Competition. I immediately clarified how the image was generated and asked to be disqualified.

Or to combine the award with an online talk discussing the relationship between AI-generated images and photography.

The organiser wanted to stick with the award, but did not respond to my suggestions for discussion, nor were press enquiries “Is it AI or not”? answered clearly, nor was a promised Q&A followed through.

In short: despite several attempts on my part, the organiser did not want to take a clear position on the nature of the work and what the consequence of the award as the winning photo will be for photography, art and society.

On 13.4.23, I therefore declined the Sony World Photography Award (Open Competition/Creative Category) at the award ceremony in London.

Find out more about Boris Eldagsen and his work here.