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Nature still outdoes the machine, says a photographer whose real image won an AI photography competition

By Allison Parshall F L A M I N G O N E, a real image by Miles Astray, won an artificial intelligence photography competition before it was disqualified. Reality is sometimes stranger than fiction. That’s what a photographer and writer who goes by the name Miles Astray wanted to make clear with his submission to the 1839 Awards, a new photography competition with a category for images created by artificial intelligence . For that AI category, Astray submitted an image that appeared to show a flamingo without its head and neck—but that was a little white lie.

The piece, entitled F L A M I N G O N E, is a real photograph. It was among the winning entries chosen by panel of judges in the AI category and won the People’s Vote Award before it was disqualified.*

Astray wasn’t the first person to pull a stunt like this, but such AI trickery usually happens in reverse. Last year, for example, an AI-generated image by artist Boris Eldagsen won the creative image category at the Sony World Photography Awards. On supporting science journalism

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“He kind of did the opposite of what I did,” Astray says of Eldagsen’s submission, “but to send a very similar message: Basically, we’re not really ready for this technology. We’re not really keeping up with how fast it is moving.”

Scientific American spoke with Astray to learn the real backstory of F L A M I N G O N E and explore the question of whether AI can be used to make good art.

[ An edited transcript of the interview follows .] What is the story behind this photograph? About two years ago I was on my way from Canada to Ecuador, and I had a stop in Aruba, kind of like […]

How This Real Image Won an AI Photo Competition