How AI is fooling the photography world

“Promptography” is what Berlin-based artist Boris Eldagsen calls his creative process. He inputs highly specific and deliberate text prompts into generative AI programs like DALL-E or Midjourney and tweaks their outputs repeatedly to create thought-provoking photographs — or at least, what look like photographs. His work is so convincing that he fooled Sony into giving him a photography award, only to decline the honor and reveal that his work was made using AI.

In this episode of Status Update, senior video producer Becca Farsace takes a flight to Berlin, Germany. There, she attends Eldagsen’s gallery opening and learns what it takes to be a promptographer.

Watch to find out if Becca could answer The Verge’s favorite question of the year: what is a photo? Bonus points if you can guess which pancakes made it into the episode.