The world of photography has a serious problem on its hands; in fact, one could say that the artistic world in general is affected by the same threat of Artificial Intelligence. The latest generative models have come so far that it’s already hard to distinguish between real work and one created at the push of a button.
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Many people realized this when an AI-created image won a major photography award; Although its creator has stated that his intention was precisely to expose the situation, he has also managed to generate a lot of paranoia and fear in the community for what is possible to achieve with an AI.
The secret of bird photography
In this context, it is necessary to understand the controversy surrounding the photograph entitled “Hedatari” (“Gap”), winner of the “Special Selection” prize from an important Japanese photography association, the AJAPS (All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies ), and that they explained in PetaPixel.
The award-winning photography that generated so much confusion
The photo contest focused on nature photography, and it’s easy to see why the photo, signed by Kenichi Ohno, was recognized. The image shows a bird that seems to be halfway between two dimensions, a completely unrealistic situation that can cause headaches if you think too much about how this is possible. It seems that the right part has the golden color of a sunset, while the left part has deep blue water.
But it is precisely this feeling of surrealism that arouses suspicion. After all, the AI-created photo that won the prize was also similar in this respect, giving a ghostly feel to the image of two women who turned out to be computer creations. To come full circle, Sony is involved in both competitions, although they were run independently. Too many coincidences?
Well yes. The photo is real and easy to see once you know where to look. It’s like those pictures that reveal a number or a letter when you look up. Although it looks like the bird is walking between two different areas, it is actually a reflection.
The photo effect is easy to understand once you know where to look
The upper right part of the photo is a wall, and what is in the middle is not a “shore”, but the edge with the water; therefore, the lower right corner shows the reflection of the surface of this wall.
This image shows that finding photos created with AI is not so simple, and that the reality is often more amazing than an algorithm can “imagine”.
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