Surprisingly, no artificial intelligence was used in the making of "Post-Mortem #16," a haunting ... [+] real photo captured at a mortuary.Patrik BudenzAs visitors enter a new photography exhibit in Berlin, theyll be greeted by striking side-by-side images, both of which have made international headlines.One is Boris Eldagsens The Electrician, an AI-generated image that won a high-profile Sony photography competition in 2023, only for the artist to reject the prize, saying AI-generated images and photos shouldnt compete with one another. The other is Miles Astrays Flamingone, a The juxtaposition of their two shots encapsulates the exhibits theme. Titled Rivals: Photography vs. Promptography, it pits cameras against algorithms in an attempt to highlight the possibilities and limitations of each in a world where artificial intelligence is rapidly making its way into more artists toolboxes.Miles Astray calls "Flamingone," a real photo, "a surreal and almost unimaginable shot, and yet ... [+] completely natural."Miles AstrayEldagsen curated the exhibit with Photo Collection Berlin and the Guelman und Unbekannt gallery, which displays and promotes art created by humans with the help of artificial intelligence.I think that photo festivals and institutions have an obligation to their audience to clarify the relationship between photography and promptography, Eldagsen said in a statement. Curators are not yet fulfilling this task. Thats why I put together an exhibition that provides answers to these important questions: What is the strength of photography that AI cannot replace? What can AI do that photography cant?Eldagsen has been a photographer for 35 years, and has spent the last three experimenting with AI. As an artist I love both, he said over email. Because of this I think it is necessary to clarify their nature. Otherwise, it would be like calling photorealistic paintings photography too.I find it very difficult to describe the symptoms verbally in a way that my listeners can ... [+] understand, photographer Sabine von Bassewitz has said of MS.Sabine von BassewitzThe exhibit which opened Monday at the Guelman und Unbekannt gallery and runs through March 31 doesnt seek to crown photography or promptography as the preferred technique. Instead, it invites reflection on the role of each in contemporary image making.The questions it raises lie at the heart of the divisive debate over art and AI. As AI permeates creative fields, some creative artists celebrate its potential to steer their work in exciting new directions, while others fear it could replace them, even altering the creative process. Adding to the complexity is the publics difficulty delineating what is and isnt AI. A recent iProov study revealed that many people cant spot a deepfake, with 20% of consumers polled saying they dont even know what one is. To highlight the issue, the company released a quiz along with the study that lets anyone test their deepfake-spotting skills.Rivals: Photography vs. Promptography runs as part of the 2025 European Month of Photography Festival and includes work by 17 photographers, plus 18 artists who incorporate AI in their images. The latter category includes Sabine von Bassewitzs Multiple Sclerosis Ataxia, in which the artist attempts to visually convey the experience of an MS relapse marked by spasticity and movement difficulties. The work depicts an artist sitting on the floor drawing with a disembodied hand while wearing a shoe on one arm, and it appeared in the At first glance, Klaus Elle's "Enlightenments #6 has a ghostly quality that suggests AI, but the ... [+] artist used long-exposure photography to get the effect.Klaus ElleViewers will encounter unmistakably photographic images such as 20th century portraits. But a number of images in the photography category notably have a surreal quality that might initially make viewers assume AI had a hand.Klaus Elles Enlightenments #6, for example, presents a ghostly wall of the artists repeating faces an image that at first glance looks like something Midjourney spit out. But Elle created it in a cellar sing long-exposure photography in 1995, long before generative AI tools made it possible for anyone to instantly create images using text or image prompts. Similarly, Astrays Flamingone, a wild photo of a faceless flamingo on spindly legs, appears AI-altered, but isnt. Images such as these underscore just how hard it can be to delineate between what is and isnt artificial intelligence. Which, of course, is one of the exhibits main points.Art is what you see in it, Astray said, and theres a lot to see here.The exhibit devotes one section to AI-generated images such as this one, titled "Blue Lard." Vladimir Sorokin and "+ -" Boris Eldagsen's AI-generated image "The Electrician" made waves for winning a Sony photo contest. Boris Eldagsen