{"id":281978,"date":"2025-11-14T06:17:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:17:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281978\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T06:17:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T06:17:12","slug":"photo-contest-in-japan-rescinds-award-for-stolen-ai-generated-pic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/281978\/","title":{"rendered":"Photo Contest in Japan Rescinds Award for Stolen AI-Generated Pic"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s not hard to spot an AI-generated picture. There\u2019s an \u201cuncanny valley\u201d feeling to them that leaps off the page, slaps you in the face, and steals several French fries off your plate. <\/p>\n

Some people, however, seemingly can\u2019t tell the difference between reality and fiction. This became clear after a photography contest in Saitama Prefecture had to retract an award it gave to a highly improbable shot. What\u2019s worse is that the unoriginal \u201cartwork\u201d wasn\u2019t even generated by the submitter. <\/p>\n

Stealing an AI-generated image sets a new low bar<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The \u201cartwork,\u201d entitled \u201cThis is my head!\u201d (\u4ffa\u306e\u982d\u3060\u305e\uff01), was submitted to the 42nd Saitama Salon, run by the All-Japan Association of Photographic Societies SAITAMA, in Saitama Prefecture, in conjunction with Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. Out of 743 submitted photos, officials somehow chose the obviously AI-generated picture of a dragonfly landing on a frog\u2019s head to receive the grand prize. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis shot of a dragonfly landing square on a frog\u2019s head is bursting with humor,\u201d read the description on the contest\u2019s website. \u201cIt\u2019s a work that combines obvious skills in photography technology and composition with a mysterious charm and familiarity.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Association hung the work in its gallery. A picture of it also ran in an edition of the Asahi Shimbun.<\/p>\n

However, overseas social media users quickly pointed out that the winning image was AI-generated. Not only that, but it appeared to be taken from a site offering royalty-free AI-generated images. <\/p>\n

The submitter, who was later interviewed by legal site Bengo4.com, admitted the image didn\u2019t belong to them. Shortly after, Asahi Shimbun rescinded the prize.<\/p>\n

AI works not forbidden by contest<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the work was rescinded, not because it was AI, but because the submitter didn\u2019t create it themselves. The contest currently has no rule against the use of AI imagery. <\/p>\n

The contest says it will consider how to \u201chandle\u201d AI \u201cartwork\u201d moving forward. <\/p>\n

Planning a trip to Japan? Get an authentic, interpreted experience from Unseen Japan Tours<\/a> and see a side of the country others miss!<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

“Noah [at Unseen Japan] put together an itinerary that didn\u2019t lock us in and we could travel at our own pace. In Tokyo, he guided us personally on a walking tour. Overall, he made our Japan trip an experience not to forget<\/a>.” – Kate and Simon S., Australia<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

See a side of Tokyo that other tourists can’t. Book a tour with Unseen Japan Tours<\/a> – we’ll tailor your trip to your interests and guide you through experiences usually closed off to non-Japanese speakers.<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Want more news and views from Japan? Donate $5\/month ($60 one-time donation) to the Unseen Japan Journalism Fund<\/a> to join Unseen Japan Insider. You’ll get our Insider newsletter with more news and deep dives, a chance to get your burning Japan questions answered, and a voice in our future editorial direction.<\/p>\n

Artists across the globe have campaigned against generative AI art, saying it\u2019s generated\u2014without permission or compensation\u2014by training Large Language Models (LLMs)<\/a> that drive GenAI on their original works. Others \u2013 even artists, such as fine art photographer Craig Boehman \u2013 have defended it, comparing the current AI art backlash to the backlash against photography<\/a>. <\/p>\n

(Unseen Japan does not approve of AI art and does not use it in any of our work. Instead, we sometimes commission human artists for original illustrations<\/a>.) <\/p>\n

GenAI has also had a deleterious effect on news \u2013 something we\u2019ve had to contend with at UJ. The Internet is awash with AI-generated images of Japan<\/a> that, in 99% of cases, bear no relationship to the reality of daily life here.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, we also wrote about a controversy involving a commercial for Maruchan udon, which some say used GenAI to create half-baked and sloppy animation cels. <\/p>\n

Sources<\/p>\n

\u300c\u30ab\u30a8\u30eb\u5199\u771f\u300d\u6700\u512a\u79c0\u8cde\u3092\u53d6\u6d88\u3057\u3001\u53d7\u8cde\u8005\u304c\u300c\u81ea\u4f5c\u3067\u306a\u3044\u300d\u3068\u7533\u544a\u2026SNS\u3067\u300cAI\u753b\u50cf\u3068\u4f3c\u3066\u3044\u308b\u300d\u3068\u6307\u6458\u3082. LiveDoor News<\/a><\/p>\n

\u6700\u512a\u79c0\u8cde\u53d6\u6d88\u3057\u306e\u300c\u30ab\u30a8\u30eb\u5199\u771f\u300d\u65b0\u305f\u306a\u4e8b\u5b9f\u660e\u3089\u304b\u306b\u3000\u300c\u5236\u4f5c\u8005\u306e\u8a31\u8afe\u306f\u5f97\u3066\u3044\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u300d\u57fc\u7389\u770c\u306e\u5199\u771f\u30b3\u30f3\u30c6\u30b9\u30c8. Bengo4.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s not hard to spot an AI-generated picture. There\u2019s an \u201cuncanny valley\u201d feeling to them that leaps off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[76,354,355,49,48,356,75],"class_list":{"0":"post-281978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-arts","9":"tag-arts-and-design","10":"tag-artsanddesign","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-design","14":"tag-entertainment"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}