Recently, a winner of the Sony World Photography Award refused to accept their prize after revealing that the submitted photo was created using an artificial intelligence image generator. The question of whether AI-generated photos should count in photography competitions is a matter of debate. Some argue that such photos should be disqualified because they are not the result of the photographer’s skill, creativity, and artistic vision. Others believe that AI-generated images should be considered a new form of art, and that photographers should be allowed to use AI as a tool to enhance their work.

The definition of photography is the art, science, and practice of creating images using light and a camera. Traditionally, photography has been considered a medium that involves capturing images through a camera lens, with the photographer controlling various factors such as lighting, composition, and focus to create a unique visual representation of a subject.

However, with the advent of digital technology and AI, the boundaries of photography have become increasingly blurred. AI image generators can now create images that look like they were taken with a camera, but they are not the result of a photographer’s direct involvement in the capture process. This raises questions about what should be considered “photography" and what should be considered a different form of digital art.

Before we criticize the poor quality of judges’ decisions and engage in pointless debates over whether a photo was created by AI, we should take seriously the challengers’ demand that the conference and “us" re-examine the criteria for reviewing photographic works and what the definition of photography is. Does AI creating a perfect photo count? Rather than “intellectual" debating over whether a photo was created by Al or not, it may be more productive to re-evaluate the judging criteria.

However, if we think about it, traditional photography is already a combination of both human skill and technology. In photography, humans don’t just read information through their eyes, but also use cameras and manipulate various settings such as aperture, exposure, and lens choice. Different cameras and lenses also have their unique characteristics that affect the final image, and the creative process is already “artificial", which involves various human interventions to enhance the image. This includes post-processing techniques such as developing and printing to produce the final photograph.

The entire process of creating, in a traditional way, a photograph is already heavily influenced by both human intervention and technology.

We should question the reasons behind criticizing AI-generated photos as not being true photography.

最近， Sony 世界攝影大獎的一名得主拒絕接受獎項，原因是他指出提交的照片是使用人工智慧圖像生成器創造的。人工智慧生成的照片應該算數嗎？攝影的定義是什麼？

在攝影比賽中，人工智慧生成的照片是否應該計入成果是一個有爭議的問題。一些人認為，這樣的照片應該被取消資格，因為它們不是攝影師技能、創意和藝術視野的結果。其他人認為，人工智慧生成的圖像應被視為一種新的藝術形式，攝影師應該被允許使用人工智慧作為增強其作品的工具。

攝影的定義是利用光線和相機創建圖像的藝術、科學和實踐。

傳統上，攝影被認為是一種通過相機鏡頭捕捉影像的媒介，攝影師通過控制不同的因素，如光線、構圖和對焦，創造出一個獨特的對象形象。

然而，隨著數字技術和人工智慧的出現，攝影的界限變得越來越模糊。現在，人工智慧圖像生成器可以創建看起來像是通過相機拍攝的照片，但它們不是攝影師在拍攝過程中直接參與的結果。這引發了關於什麼應該被視為「攝影」以及什麼應該被視為不同的數字藝術形式的問題。

在批評評判的質素差勁和智力低下，及在大家爭相認叻，指出圖片的瑕疵明顯是由 AI 造成之前，我們更應該思考一下攝影大獎得主的要求，評審大會和 “我們” 應該 重新審視審查攝影作品的評分標準以及攝影的定義。人工智慧創建完美的 (沒有 “很聰明的” 網民能夠睇得出有漏洞的) 照片算不算？與其 “學術性” 地辯論照片是否由人工智慧創建，不如重新審視及設定評判標準。

我們試想下，傳統攝影作品本來就已經是人和科技的結合。在攝影中，人不只是由透過眼讀取資訊，而是透過眼睛，再透過相機，再加上一大堆人為的操作，包括調節光圈，曝光，所用的鏡片會影響顏色，不同相機本身帶點 “味精”，廣角鏡，魚眼鏡等等，還有各種後期技術的製作過程，包括執相和曬相等後期工作，一張 “非人工智能的” 照片才可以出世。成件事本身已經很非自然，很人工化，很 「非本真 (a-authentic)」 。

或者我們應該更思考下批評人工智能相片不是攝影的理由在哪裏。

歡迎討論！