A mother’s surprise as her 18-year-old son’s iPhone photo taken at a museum is rejected by a photography competition because judges thought it was faked by AI: Here’s the real story
Suzy Dougherty’s photo disqualified after being mistaken for AI A mother entered her son’s photo in a local contest
A real photo taken on an iPhone was disqualified from a photography competition after judges suspected it was created by artificial intelligence.
The photo of Suzie Dougherty’s 18-year-old son Casper was deemed ‘suspicious’ by judges despite the mum insisting it was taken on her mobile phone.
The photo was taken at an exhibition at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, where her son dressed in the same color as the installation’s bathroom and mimicked the doll’s position.
Ms Dougherty told Daily Mail Australia she photographed her son Casper next to the two dolls at the Gucci exhibition.
‘We really liked the image and so we printed it for my mum who loves Gucci but couldn’t go because she was ill and she told me I should enter it in this competition,’ said Ms Dougherty.
A mum has been left stunned after entering a photo of her son into a local photography competition only to have it rejected because judges ruled it was AI-generated (pictured)
Suzy Dougherty’s (pictured) photo of her 18-year-old Casper was deemed ‘suspicious’ by judges despite mum insisting it was taken on her iPhone
Although never entering a photo competition, he entered the Charing Cross Photography Competition under the theme of fashion.
The entry was seen by four judges who liked it but rejected it because they were suspicious that it was AI-generated.
‘In our recent photo contest, CCP received a photo that first intrigued all the judges and then raised doubts so we decided not to include the photo for judging,’ said the contest organizers.
‘We have already indicated (on social as well as in the contest T&Cs) that although we may include a category for AI images in the future we are not currently accepting them so please do not submit any.
‘We want the images to come from your real-life experiences, not from cyberspace.
‘We can’t be absolutely sure that the photo submitted was created by AI but you really can’t ignore the gut instinct of the four judges.’
Ms Dougherty was shocked by the decision but said she was ‘flattered’ as she had no idea how to create an AI image.
‘I was a bit confused at first, I thought it was a joke but no, I was actually disqualified,’ he said.
‘I think it’s really funny and I’m so glad they thought it was good enough to be AI.’
Although Ms Doherty had never entered a competition before, the future entry didn’t rule out joking: ‘I think I might have the photography bug now’.
‘I don’t know if I can try again now, I see there’s a kangaroo photography competition and I might take out my trusty iPhone,’ she said.
Ms Dougherty also said she had no hard feelings towards the photography stores who were running the competition saying they were a great place and offered to fix things.
‘They’ve offered me a print in a frame and will put the picture in the window to sell my son’s picture in the shop which is amazing (that) they think it’s good enough to do.
‘It’s hard and obviously people can no longer tell what’s real and what’s not.’
Ian Anderson, owner of Charing Cross Photo Sydney, shared an update after a conversation with Ms Dougherty in which she informed them the photo was real.
‘It’s a great play about what’s real and what’s not in our world,’ Mr Anderson said.
‘Unfortunately, for the entrant, the timing wasn’t great because AI is such a hot topic and without background information we felt the need to question the whole picture.
‘We can confirm that this image does not violate our laws and regulations.’