A German artist has turned down an international photography award as he revealed it was created by AI.  

Boris Eldagsen's entry Pseudomnesia: The Electrician won the creative open category at last week's Sony World Photography Award. 

The image in question showed a black-and-white portrait of two women from different generations. 

In a statement on his website, Eldagsen admitted he had been a "cheeky monkey" and used artificial intelligence to generate the image. 

He thanked the judges for "selecting my image and making this a historic moment", while asking if any of them "knew or suspected that it was AI-generated". 

"AI images and photography should not compete with each other in an award like this," he continued. 

"They are different entities. AI is not photography. Therefore I will not accept the award." 

A spokesperson for the World Photography Organisation, the photography strand of art events organisers Creo, said that during their discussions with the artist, before he was announced as the winner, he had confirmed the piece was a "co-creation" of his image using AI. 

He noted his interest in "the creative possibilities of AI generators", while "emphasising the image heavily relies on his wealth of photographic knowledge". 

"Additionally, we were looking forward to engaging in a more in-depth discussion on this topic and welcomed Boris' wish for dialogue by preparing questions for a dedicated Q&A with him for our website." 

Recently AI has been used more in professional competitions.  

In September 2022, American programmer Jason M. Allen was criticised for winning a local art competition with AI-generated art.

Main image via Boris Eldagsen.