Author: unthyself | Publication Date: July 17, 2024 8:20 | Category: AI Artificial Intelligence, Digital Content, Internet


According to media reports, a German artist, Boris Eldagsen, won the Sony World Photography Awards with "photographic works" generated by artificial intelligence (see the picture below), which sparked controversy. After learning of the award, the artist chose to refuse it. Similarly, Miles Astray participated in the AI category of the 1839 Color Photography Awards with a work titled "F L A M I N G O N E", and was surprised to be selected. The photographer said that the photograph was original and that he just happened to see a flamingo scratching its belly, so he pressed the shutter.

▲ German artist Aida Gelsen's work generated by artificial intelligence technology won the "Sony World Photography Awards", sparking controversy. (Source: Aida Gelsen)

The two examples mentioned here are about how AI-generated technology blurs the line between creators and art appreciation. Does AI not perceive reality?

The success of the AI photography competition demonstrates the huge potential of combining technology and art. In the future, AI technology may play a role in more creative fields such as painting, music, and film. However, the balance between technology and human creativity remains a question worth considering. People should embrace technological advancements and think about how to use these technologies to enhance our creativity, rather than replace it.

The principle behind these photography creations mainly relies on deep learning and Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) technology. GANs are made up of a pair of neural networks: the generator and the discriminator. The generator is responsible for creating new images, while the discriminator is responsible for determining whether these images are artificially generated or real. Through continuous adversarial training, the generator learns to create increasingly realistic images. The advancement of these technologies enables AI to create works comparable to those of professional photographers, and even surpass human creativity in some aspects.

The emergence of AI-generated imagery has also sparked criticism from some photographers and art enthusiasts. They believe that artistic creation should be a uniquely human activity, involving the emotions and personal experiences of the creator, which machines cannot mimic. Some traditional photographers are concerned that the rise of AI-generated photography may affect their careers and lead to changes in the photography industry. Nevertheless, many people believe that AI-generated photography can be an auxiliary tool for human creation, providing new inspiration and creativity.

There was a recent case where an illustrator sold AI-generated illustrations of Wonder Woman to the animation company DC, and DC withdrew the use after discovering that it was AI-generated. They issued a statement that all future creations must be original works of the author. This highlights the conflict between the originality of AI creations and copyright. The question arises: should the copyright of AI creations belong to the person who generated them with strings and modules? Is a combination of strings and instructions that have been repeatedly attempted not original? The tools that have emerged in recent years, such as Midjourney, and the realization of the concept of learning neural networks, will only continue to progress, but ultimately the determination of the beauty and feeling of the work is still decided by humans.

In the author's own work experience, AI assistance is becoming more and more convenient, for example, Photoshop has expanded generation tools that can assist with tasks like background removal, flaw correction, and portrait retouching, making these tasks much more convenient compared to manual operations and smudging in the early days. Will AI replace creators? The author believes that whether it is AI or human creation, the goal should be to express emotions and convey thoughts, in order to create truly valuable works of art.
 

(Main image source: shutterstock)