A first-place photography award at the Maryland State Fair became part of the fight over what counts as art in the age of AI.
The dispute centered on the fact that the image was AI-edited, setting off backlash in the community competition, including on a Reddit post in the r/maryland community that drew thousands of upvotes.
Here's what to know
After the image won the Maryland State Fair's Open Class Home Arts "Neon Lights" photography category, a debate ensued, leading organizers to bar AI modifications starting in 2027, The Baltimore Sun reported. (Click here if the embed does not appear.)
Sam Chamelin, superintendent of the Maryland State Fair's photography competition, told the newspaper that Neon Lights permitted embellished photographs and did not prohibit AI-edited entries.
He said that will change in 2027, when AI alterations will disqualify a submission.
Guy Alston of Randallstown said he used Google-based AI software, including Nano Banana in Photoshop and other platforms, on a photo he had taken years earlier. He said he believed that approach fit the rules of the category, telling the Sun, "I don't do an image from nothing, which is what I think a lot of people were saying."
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In Chamelin's view, the winning image fit because Neon Lights was designed to allow more experimentation than the fair's regular photography classes, wherein Photoshop use is more restricted.
More background
The fair received 850 entries and included 40 standard photography categories along with two special categories. For at least 10 years, those special categories, including Neon Lights, have permitted digital embellishment.
"The judge has the final say — if the judge did not like my photo, they would not have picked it. Art is an opinion," Alston told the Sun.
What's being done?
In 2027, the fair will disqualify entries changed with artificial intelligence, drawing a clear boundary around acceptable digital alterations.
Chamelin told the Sun it is difficult for volunteers who sort through hundreds of submissions to know precisely how each photograph was created.
"If you think that photo is the only photo that was in the whole contest that had some AI in it, then you haven't been paying attention over the past five years," Alston said.
Chamelin told the Sun: "We want to lean into a kind of digital artistry, be creative with it, emphasize different parts of the photographs — we still want that very much to occur; those are fun photographs. We want to make sure that it's humans and not machines that do it."
Where can I learn more?
If this topic intrigued you, there is more to read on AI imagery.
• A viral monkey selfie helped set precedent for AI copyright fights over who owns machine-shaped images.
• In Minnesota, lawmakers debated banning the use of AI to create explicit images of children.
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