AI-generated photo fooled the judges and won a photo contest

The winning entry in a photography competition organized by Australian company DigiDirect was a drone shot depicting two surfers racing towards each other. The image was deemed by experts as deserving of the main prize, but the winner declined the award. However, the truth behind this impressive photograph is that it was actually generated by a neural network, demonstrating that the capability of AI-generated images has reached such a high level that even experts struggle to discern them from real photos.

The entrant, Absolutely Ai, submitted the "drone image" to the competition with the aim of showcasing that we are at a pivotal moment in the advancement of artificial intelligence technologies. This marks the first time an AI-generated photo, depicting surfers, has won an award, highlighting the remarkable progress of AI in the field of image creation.