I won an AI image award with a real photo to show we’re not adapting to the technology fast enough. Then it was my … – Fortune

Miles Astray is a multidisciplinary artist combining writing and photography into art activism, inspired by a slow and immersive journey around the world that started in 2012.

As a writer and photographer, the implications of AI-generated content are at least twofold for me. Im not all that concerned about the impact this disruptive technology might have on my own work though. I have created my personal creative language that the machine simply does not speak. What I am worried about are tectonic societal shifts that could wipe out livelihoods, professions, industries, and democratic pillars overnight.

Dont worry, I am not prophesizing The End and do not demonize artificial intelligence. But I do think that we need to take the AI debate from public discourse to action as soon as possible. We are not on the cusp of a tidal wavewe are deep-sea-deep in it, and there is no rowing back.

Recently, I entered my work Flamingone (below) into the AI category of 1839 Awards, a prestigious international photo competition. The twist: The picture of a seemingly headless flamingo is as real as the belly scratch the bird is busy with, neck tucked below the torso. I thought if I could win over the awards high-profile jury with my entry, I would prove that human-made content has not lost its relevance, that Mother Nature and her human interpreters can still beat the machine, and that creativity and emotion are more than just a string of digits.

Courtesy of Miles Astray

The jury shortlisted my photo alongside a handful of real AI-generated images, which put it in the running for two awards: the jurys decision and a public vote. In the end, it convinced both the jury and the audience, last week winning the peoples choice award and finishing among the jurys winners. The picture, as far as I know, is the first real photo to win an AI award.

Point made. Now what?

Of course, I felt bad about leading the jury astray, but I thought of them as professionals who might find that this jab at AI and its ethical implications outweighs the ethical implications of deceiving the viewerwhich, of course is ironic because that is what AI does. And thats how this twisted plot started in the first place: In recent years, several AI-generated photos made international headlines by winning photo competitions in which they were not supposed to compete, highlighting the technologys rapidly increasing capacities.

Somewhere between those headlines, it occurred to me that I could twist the story inside down and upside out the way only a human could and would. Someone might even say that AI gave me the idea, but then someone else should quickly reply that it was the humans behind those machines, using them like visual ventriloquists. The fact that it did convince a jury of industry professionalsincluding members of the New York Times, Phaidon Press, Getty Images, Centre Pompidou in Paris, Christies, and Maddox Galleryis telling of a few things, and I hope in this very order:

The first one should go without saying. Let me address the other two.

I think the jury is not to blame here. The fact that they didnt pick up on my little stunt doesnt speak to a lack of expertise, but to the existence of psychological biases. They were simply not prepared for anybody entering a real photo into the AI category because they didnt expect it. Why would they?

But thats the thing: In the same vein, we, as a society, are nowhere near prepared to question every image, audio file, or video we come across, because historically we didnt have to. And maybe we shouldnt. Maybe that would be sad, to question everything and everyone that is not right in front of our eyes. But our critical thinking will have to race AIs lightspeed development if we want to stay ahead of it, and thats an individual responsibility we all share.

As for AI content that is indiscernible from the real deal, the message behind my stunt is not that different from the one Berlin-based artist Boris Eldagsen sent last year, when he won the Sony World Photo Awards creative category with an AI-generated image. Just that he came in from the other end. Same page, different book. Were not ready for all of AIs implications.

Sure, if AI is applied the right way, it could even boost creatives. It does help Eldagsen with his work. But it could also make many of them superfluous, depending on how those creatives adapt and what institutional guardrails we decide to put in place. Some creatives already leverage AI to outsource menial tasks and free up resources for their passion projects. Others might already have lost a gig here or there because their work looked superfluous to an employer in light of AI-generated content.

A lot of nuance awaits between the sensationalized black-and-white scenarios. For instance, a cash-strapped startup reluctant to hire a graphic designer can use AI to get a free company logo. But that graphic designer just lost a gig. And maybe that same startup lets AI generate a generic stock image for its blog, which costs a stock photographer a paycheck. Then again, that stock photographer might have already switched to AI to produce their content much cheaper. Its complex. The slope becomes slippery once we start talking about less generic content that deceives the viewer intentionally or unintentionally. Something AI will likely never be able to replace, for instance, are real photos of a newsworthy event. It can, however, produce fake photos to make up news that never happened outside a CPU.

Technology isnt inherently good or bad. It isnt inherently anything. The way humans apply it makes it one thing or another. If we hadnt dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and had used it instead to deter an asteroid approaching Earth, we might have called it something like the Holy Bomb. In its potential to advance humanity or wreak havoc, AI is no different from many other technologies.

But where we lagged behind with its disruptive predecessor social media, we should get ahead of the change this time around. Dont get me wrong, I love change. My whole life is change. But change calls for adaptation. When social media turned the internet upside down, it started out by connecting people all over the world and facilitating revolutions like the Arab Spring. Great! But it wasnt long before it became instrumental to spreading fake news that hurt elections and democracies.

AI has the potential to make all that look like a kids prank, putting a weapon of mass-misinformation into the hands of anyone who wants itno background check required. If we want the ability to flag AI-generated content, well probably need to tag it. The onus would be on governments and the private sector, and almost as important as the civil and individual responsibility of critical thinking and questioning the apparently obvious. Well have to educate young people to do this.

With AI-generated content remodeling the digital landscape while sparking ever-fiercer debates about its implications for the future of content and the creators behind itincluding artists, journalists, and graphic designersmy shenanigan hit a nerve. News outlets all over the world picked up the story, and good old social media amplified it. The overwhelmingly positive reactions have, well, overwhelmed me. There has been tremendous support for the idea and the statement behind it, but none has surprised and humbled me more than the reaction I received from the award organizers themselves.

After I revealed the true nature of Flamingone to themand after they disqualified the entry out of fairness to contestants with actual AI imagescofounder and director Lily Fierman reached out with an email and remarked that she appreciates the powerful message and that it was an important and timely statement.

We hope this will bring awareness (and a message of hope) to many photographers worried about AI, she wrote.

As for me, I hope that my win was also a win for the many creatives out there, or really for anyone worried about AI. This technology is here to stay, so I hope we can adapt in waysand adopt it in waysthat are beneficial for all.

The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs ofFortune.

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I won an AI image award with a real photo to show we're not adapting to the technology fast enough. Then it was my ... - Fortune