Photo Contest Fooled by AI Image Launches ‘Human vs Machine’ Competition

A photography contest that awarded first place to a computer-generated artificial intelligence (AI) image has launched a new competition that pits AI against human photographers.

The Human vs Machine image contest is open to photographers and AI image creators with the judging panel blind to whether the image is synthetic or genuine.

It comes after the photo contest, operated by Australian electronics company DigiDirect, was fooled by an AI image of two surfers paddling out to sea; awarding the supposed drone shot first place in its Summer photo contest.

DigiDirect’s response to being hoodwinked by an AI image is to try and “settle who can make the best image — Human or Machine.”

“There is no specific theme for this contest. Submit your best images regardless of topic. The winner will receive a $1000 DigiDirect gift card,” the company says.

“An expert panel of photographers will judge the submissions without knowledge of whether they are created by humans or artificially generated.”

The judging panel put together by DigiDirect include Nikon ambassadors, wildlife photographers, and wedding photographers. It will be interesting to see how adept the judges are at picking out artificial images against real photos.

The competition runs until tomorrow and the entrants can be viewed on the competition’s website.

Defiant Response

DigiDirect says that it is “proud” of its response after news of its photo contest being won by an AI image made headlines around the world.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks at digiDirect!” It writes on Instagram. “We woke up to so many news articles featuring our weekly contest online and on social media.
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“We are proud of our response and we are proud that our next competition (which is live on our site) involves photographers and AI artists.
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“We are excited to see the outcome of this battle as the entries keep rolling in! Stay connected to see who will win Human or Machine.”