Can AI trump humans at photography? Baz Luhrmann and Bombay Sapphire investigate

Baz Luhrmann and Bombay Sapphire are challenging the creative potential of AI as part of a new exhibition at the Design Museum that will invite a robot to “enrich and enable” human creativity.

It’s the culmination of the “Saw this made this” campaign, and features work that Luhrmann has supposedly handpicked from a global photography competition, launched with Bombay Sapphire. Visitors to the exhibition can ask “Ai-Da Robot” to play around with the winning images.

But who’s to say the photographs in question weren’t generated by AI in the first place? In Luhrmann’s homeland of Australia, camera retailer digiDirect was embarrassed when the top prize in its own photography competition – judged by a panel of professionals – went to an AI-generated aerial photo of surfers on a sunset beach.

Luhrmann, however, is clearly satisfied that all the Bombay Sapphire entries are generated by humans. He said: “Thousands of people have shared the things that have sparked their own creativity – and the results have been extraordinary. I’m genuinely excited that we are shining light on individuals and their expression, reinterpreting it in a truly original way.”