Multimedia

The Sony World Photography Awards made waves in March when they unveiled "Pseudomnesia: The Electrician," the winner of the creative open category. However, German artist Boris Eldagsen, who created this thought-provoking piece, gained notoriety for not accepting the prize because his work was created by artificial intelligence. Eldgsen explained on his website that he wanted award organizers to be more aware of the difference between AI-generated images and photography and asked them to create separate competitions for AI-generated work. The Oxford English Dictionary defines photography as the process, practice, or art of taking photographs, the business of producing and printing photographs.  As AI algorithms become increasingly adept at generating realistic and high-quality images, they challenge the traditional notion of photography as a human-driven process. Never Chan, 23, a wedding photographer, said the fairness of photography competitions depends on the rules. For example, the rules may indicate that only color correction is permitted, while post-processing is off-limits. She enhances her photographs, for example, by removing unwanted objects from the background. However, she draws a clear line between AI's role in post-processing and its involvement in the actual act of photography.  "I'll ask where my clients met and assist them in taking photos there. But if AI can alter the background of a client's photos, they would lose the realism of the shot and the memorable moment of capturing it,” said Chan. In a statement provided to The Young Reporter, Ivan Tsoi, the spokesperson of the Hong Kong Photo Contest, said the contest commits to the principles of Documentary Photography. That is seeing the world as perceived through the photographer's lens rather than through post-production images produced by AI. Tsoi said they go through a rigorous evaluation process for the shortlisted works. To ensure compliance with the competition's rules, each photograph is …