Is ChatGPT a valid tool in Extended Editing?

07/27/2026 12:18:07 AM · #1

From a photographer's notes in a recent challenge:

"This image was created by combining two images in ChatGPT and then finished in Lightroom."

Is that where we are now? This site has always been so worried about photo editing tools and now we're skipping straight to who does the best job of asking AI to edit our images.

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM

07/27/2026 01:09:07 AM · #2

Yes, this opens a very interesting discussion.

Since Chat-generated images don't contain EXIF, of they used Chat generated images it would be an instant DQ.

However, it seems that Chat was used as the editor, not the photo generator.

Message edited by author 2026-07-27 01:13:44.

Lydia

Canon EOS-6D

07/27/2026 08:46:24 AM · #3

I saw that note, also and wondered how that was legal.

I agree with Don.

kasaba

Canon EOS-80D

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS

07/27/2026 09:07:26 AM · #4

Wow! What an interesting twist ...
Curios to hear what the take is on this.

Message edited by author 2026-07-27 09:10:41.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

07/27/2026 09:22:35 AM · #5

If the source images are provided then it should not matter what editing tool was used, I thought that's what the rules for Extended imply?

glad2badad

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED

07/27/2026 09:57:17 AM · #6

Originally posted by MargaretNet:

If the source images are provided then it should not matter what editing tool was used, I thought that's what the rules for Extended imply?

That’s pretty much how I see it also for Extended Editing. We (SC) are discussing it to ensure proper comprehension across the board.

Lydia

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM

07/27/2026 10:03:58 AM · #7

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Originally posted by MargaretNet:
If the source images are provided then it should not matter what editing tool was used, I thought that's what the rules for Extended imply?

That’s pretty much how I see it also for Extended Editing. We (SC) are discussing it to ensure proper comprehension across the board.

I disagree. You must do the editing yourself.

Letting ChatGPT do it is like me asking my son to edit my images together.

nam

Sony DSLR-A580

Sony DT 18-70mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical ED

07/27/2026 10:12:58 AM · #8

Originally posted by Lydia:

Originally posted by glad2badad:

Originally posted by MargaretNet:
If the source images are provided then it should not matter what editing tool was used, I thought that's what the rules for Extended imply?

That’s pretty much how I see it also for Extended Editing. We (SC) are discussing it to ensure proper comprehension across the board.

I disagree. You must do the editing yourself.

Letting ChatGPT do it is like me asking my son to edit my images together.

I agree with Lydia. It's not much of a step between this and having a teammate help by combining your images because they're more skillful at it than you are. Would that be legal in Extended? Or, if someone "admitted to it", would it result in a DQ?

glad2badad

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED

07/27/2026 10:20:29 AM · #9

Good discussion! Keep 'em coming please.

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark II

07/27/2026 10:24:02 AM · #10

There are no means of validating who or what edited the image however unfair it sounds. That's the reality SC is facing.

glad2badad

Olympus 60mm f/2.8 Macro M.Zuiko Digital ED

07/27/2026 10:27:06 AM · #11

Playing devils advocate here ... how would you go about ascertaining and enforcing editing steps/processes? We already get push-back on asking for editing steps even though it's listed in the Common Editing rules. Would you suggest that images get DQ'd if it can't be proven how the editing process was done?

We do have the following rule specified in the Common Editing rules:

"Your submission must be ... taken and post-processed by you. Someone else may press the shutter button if you set up the shot and the camera settings. No one else may post-process your entry for you. Exceptions must be approved by the Site Council in advance."

Olympus 17mm f/1.8 M.Zuiko

07/27/2026 10:35:21 AM · #12

Originally posted by glad2badad:

...
We do have the following rule specified in the Common Editing rules:

"Your submission must be ... taken and post-processed by you. Someone else may press the shutter button if you set up the shot and the camera settings. No one else may post-process your entry for you. Exceptions must be approved by the Site Council in advance."

How do you enforce this?

PennyStreet

OM System OM-5

07/27/2026 10:41:36 AM · #13

Originally posted by MargaretNet:

Originally posted by glad2badad:
...
We do have the following rule specified in the Common Editing rules:

"Your submission must be ... taken and post-processed by you. Someone else may press the shutter button if you set up the shot and the camera settings. No one else may post-process your entry for you. Exceptions must be approved by the Site Council in advance."

How do you enforce this?

Exactly. Now you see our problemo. Suggestions?

07/27/2026 11:25:34 AM · #14

Enforcement is based on the honor system, like everything else on this site.

If someone takes an analogue image, processes it in a darkroom, digitizes and then uploads it, there's no exif of the capture or the process. Is such a person's entry DQ'd?

The answer is yes; This isn't shocking, since this is a digital photography contest site.

But not all digital images are created equal: I took this this image, with a scanner. And the rule it broke is "Your submission must be taken with a digital camera that records EXIF data."

So the debate around "is Chat editing any different from your teammate editing", or is it just another tool like content aware, or any other Photoshop AI tool? The images used in such a composite would still need to be validated. If someone isn't good at compositing, is it cheating to even the field?

07/27/2026 11:28:39 AM · #15

Originally posted by tanguera:

is it cheating to even the field?

by definition. I can beat Magnus Carlsen at chess if I'm allowed to use my phone.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/27/2026 11:33:49 AM · #16

Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by tanguera:
is it cheating to even the field?

by definition. I can beat Magnus Carlsen at chess if I'm allowed to use my phone.

So for you an intellectual skill and a physical skill are the same thing?

If you were playing chess with Steven Hawkings, and he used his voice to have someone else move the chess piece, would it be cheating?

Message edited by author 2026-07-27 11:34:24.

HalldorIngi

Nikon Z8

07/27/2026 12:03:33 PM · #17

To be honest I think you guys don't realize where we are tech wise, I can use AI in Photoshop to genarate whatever I want, I can get professional presets to auto edit my pictures with one click. And then we have all the other editing software which are going overboard with AI. Been hammered with ads that I can edit my wedding pictures while I sleep and deliverer them the morning after the wedding. (yes, that is becoming a problem)
So, I don't think the name of the program matter, it's all going the same direction.
Then, as I have mention before, phone pictures are auto AI edited so I could easily put a photo like that in a challenge under minimum editing and get away with it.

I put the line that people use AI for assisting editing but not generating, but there is no way to monitor or validate that. As always, it is on the users to follow the rules, updating them is hard though as AI is a becoming a standard and user don't even know when they are using it or not.

07/27/2026 01:17:28 PM · #18

Originally posted by tanguera:

obviously no to both questions, but those are rhetorical questions, right? You're trying to make a point? I don't know what your point is. Are you trying to say that editing a photo on a PC is a physical skill, akin to moving chess pieces on a chessboard? Moving chess pieces is trivial. Are you saying that editing is trivial?

Your point is that writing a prompt "make the sky brighter and more dramatic" is not significantly different than editing a photo to do that?

I'm honestly baffled by this response.

07/27/2026 01:57:02 PM · #19

Originally posted by posthumous:

Originally posted by tanguera:
So for you an intellectual skill and a physical skill are the same thing?

If you were playing chess with Steven Hawkings, and he used his voice to have someone else move the chess piece, would it be cheating?

obviously no to both questions, but those are rhetorical questions, right? You're trying to make a point? I don't know what your point is. Are you trying to say that editing a photo on a PC is a physical skill, akin to moving chess pieces on a chessboard? Moving chess pieces is trivial. Are you saying that editing is trivial?

Your point is that writing a prompt "make the sky brighter and more dramatic" is not significantly different than editing a photo to do that?

I'm honestly baffled by this response.

I think

HalldorIngi explains it best.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

07/27/2026 02:04:51 PM · #20

Yes, there is no stopping to AI, it is everywhere and DPC better find a way to adjust to that.

HalldorIngi

Nikon Z8

07/27/2026 03:15:56 PM · #21

Originally posted by posthumous:

This is a yes and a no answer.
That prompt gives you a random result you have no control over. If you want to remove the guessing part, you have to write a long-detailed prompt, meaning you have to know and understand both the program and the editing process. If your PS was suddenly voice command only you would still need your skills to operate it.

So, writing a prompt can require as much skills as using sliders and brushes.
But, cheating is extremely easy, you can simply pick a photographer and have the AI edit everything in his style.

Lydia

Canon EOS-6D

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM

07/27/2026 05:26:30 PM · #22

Originally posted by posthumous:

This!

Yes. I agree with Don.

Allowing AI or ChatGPT to edit photos legally here will probably make me go away.

I am 'old school'. Your talent is your talent.

ChatGPT's talent is not your talent.

Melethia

Olympus OM-D E-M1 Mark III

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS

07/27/2026 06:24:08 PM · #23

To be fair, I don't know how to use 99% of Photoshop, and I would be equally inept at using ChatGPT to edit a photo using "prompts". I'm so old school they closed the school, demolished the school, rebuilt something on top of the school, demolished THAT, and are now considering a data center.....