German artist Boris Eldagsen, who recently won a prestigious photography competition with a stunning black and white portrait, is now refusing the award after admitting the image was created using an AI image generator, The Guardian reports. In a statement on his personal website, the artist described himself as being a “cheeky monkey” for entering the Sony World Photography Awards with an AI-generated image. Boris Eldagsen, the first artist to win an award for an AI generated image in a photography competition, refused to accept the award at the recent Sony World Photography Awards ceremony. pic.twitter.com/lHvY3d78Fa — Michael Dooney (@MichaelDooney_) April 14, 2023 His purported goal was to test whether the award was capable of identifying his faked artwork — and provoke a debate surrounding the use of AI in the field of photography. “With my refusal of the award I hope to speed up this debate,” Eldagsen wrote in his statement. “AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this,” he added. “They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award.” The artist is now considering donating his prize to a photo festival set to take place in Odesa, Ukraine. The news comes after artist Jason Allen entered the Colorado State Fair’s fine art competition with an AI-generated painting last yea, and won, sparking a similar outcry from artists around the world. In short, AI art is here to stay, at least in the short term, whether…Guy Admits That His Prize-Winning "Photo" Was Actually Generated Using AI