Nikon had to disqualify somebody from a photo contest. Again. The reason? The winning image was not a photograph. It was AI. Not the remove-a-power-line kind of AI. The type-words-into-a-box-and-call-yourself-a-photographer kind.
And look, I am not anti-AI. AI art can be cool. Knock yourself out.
But here is my take: give it its own league.
I have always said there should be two professional baseball leagues. There is the MLB, and then there should be the steroid league. Let them juice up and hit 700-foot home runs. Let them run the bases in three seconds flat. I would absolutely watch that. That is entertainment.
So do the same thing here. You want to make art with a prompt? Fine. Go compete against the other prompt typers. Have the AI photo contest. And leave the regular photo contests to people with actual cameras.
But here is the problem with my brilliant idea. Even if you did that, people would still cheat in the regular contest. You could take away all the prize money and they would still cheat. You could charge people to enter and they would STILL cheat. Because people do not want a contest. They want the applause. The amount of acclaim people need in this world is ridiculous.
Have you ever wanted to win something you did not actually earn? That is the whole game now. Stuff the ballot box. Grab the trophy. Who cares if the work is yours.
I care. That is why I bring a camera.
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