Boris Eldagsen - Biography
Boris Eldagsen – Philosopher, AI artist. Provocateur. Award refuser.
‘I do not accept this award!’ – With this sentence, Boris Eldagsen made international photography history in 2023 – as the first artist to publicly reject a prestigious photography award because the winning image had not been created by him, but by AI. The jury had not recognised this. The world did.
For some, he was a troublemaker. For others, he was the ‘poster boy of the AI debate’ (SZ), the ‘man who opened Pandora’s box’ (The Age). His image PSEUDOMNESIA | The Electrician became a global icon – ‘the photo that stopped the world’ (The Guardian).
Boris Eldagsen Keynote Topics
- WILL IT BLEND? – The future of creative collaboration between humans and AI
How we need to redistribute responsibility, intuition and decision-making between humans and machines
- RIVALS – Photography vs. Promptography
What AI-generated images can do – and where photography remains irreplaceable
- DREAM UP YOUR MOVIE – How AI is already producing videos today
Techniques, tools and strategic fields of application – for companies, agencies and creative professionals
- MULTIMODALITY – Why AI makes us team players
From individual disciplines to collective creativity – how working methods and role models are changing
Boris Eldagsen is not a speaker for the comfortable middle ground: He does not come to entertain – but to challenge, to provoke, to force people to think. Those who book him do not get buzzwords, but razor-sharp analyses. No well-tempered storytelling, but an imposition with an insight effect. No applause on autopilot, but friction with IQ.
What does Eldagsen do on stage?
- He doesn’t provide answers, but thought processes.
- He doesn’t want applause, but awareness.
- He doesn’t deliver a keynote speech. He delivers friction.
He doesn’t speak to an audience that already knows everything – but to everyone who is ready to embrace new categories.
Ideal for:
- Companies & conferences that prioritise relevance over rituals
- Executives who don’t outsource thinking
- Universities, media companies, think tanks that seek discourse instead of decoration