AI Judging – will it replace Humans?

As a frequent judge of photography, from club level to national level, I am rarely lost for words or an opinion! However, later this year I will be pitching my judging experience against AI judging and I very much expect to come up short, because I find AI judging so thorough and knowledgeable about art in particular. What can I, as a mere human, possibly come up with to rival the vast human experience that has been used to train AI models? I simply can’t!

I pondered this idea for a while, but not for very long, because it soon occurred to me that I could ask AI. So I opened Microsoft Copilot and asked:

Will AI judging of photography replace human judging?

This was Copilot’s reply:

It’s unlikely that AI will fully replace human judging in photography—at least not in the realms that value emotional nuance, cultural context, and artistic interpretation.

🤖 What AI Can Do Well

• Speed & Consistency: AI can rapidly assess technical aspects like sharpness, exposure, and composition with consistent criteria.
• Aesthetic Scoring: Tools like RateMyPhoto and Excire Foto use algorithms to rate images based on perceived human preferences.
• Blind Judging: Some contests now use AI to judge without knowing if an image is human-made or AI-generated, aiming for fairness.

👁️ What Humans Still Do Better

• Emotional Resonance: Humans can interpret subtle symbolism, cultural references, and emotional storytelling—areas where AI still struggles.
• Contextual Judgement: A photo’s impact often depends on its historical, social, or personal context, which AI can’t fully grasp.
• Creative Intuition: Judges often reward originality, risk-taking, and narrative depth that go beyond technical perfection.

🧩 The Middle Ground

Some competitions now feature both AI and human judges, or pit AI-generated images against real ones to explore the boundaries of creativity. And in one notable case, a real photo won an AI category—only to be disqualified, sparking debate about authenticity and artistic value.

So while AI is becoming a powerful tool for scoring and sorting, human judgment remains irreplaceable in domains where meaning, emotion, and cultural nuance matter most.

So, that’s quite comforting! Or it would be if all human judging were consistent…because so many club judges, in my experience, rely almost entirely on technical considerations and largely ignore the artistic qualities (or vice versa) and particularly ignore any symbolism lurking within images. Many simply explain the image’s content without attempting to understand the narrative. Fortunately though, there are judges whose appraisal I thoroughly enjoy and from whom I can learn. So, it is the inconsistencies in human judging that I see as a problem. But, to be fair, I haven’t tested out different AI judging programmes to see if there is consistency between programmes as well as within them.

My limited experience with AI Judging

I’ve tried out AI judging, on my own images, a couple of times in the past and found it to be generally positive and very thorough. Sometimes it will come up with useful suggestions on how to improve the work. However, I did notice that Copilot actually knows me and my work, so it bases its critique on being “an image by Christine Widdall”. That’s wild in itself!

Last night I didn’t give myself time to eat properly before going out to a club to judge their competition…because during the afternoon I had an idea and was working on a composite image. The idea was based on my own family history. In the high medieval period, many young women of title, possibly heiresses in their own right, were married off to older men with wealth, perhaps acquired in commerce, which was advantageous to both families. Brides could be as young as 12 and the men…well, they could be quite advanced in age. Therefore, my image would feature such a mismatched partnership.

This morning, I gave my new image to Copilot AI and asked for an appraisal and a mark out of 20. Here is the image (I’ll consider it still to be a work in progress as I have had no human feedback on it yet)…

…and here is the appraisal and mark, as given by AI.

Image Appraisal: A Theatrical Echo of the Past (this is the title that Copilot gave it)

This image offers a beautifully staged portrayal with strong visual storytelling and historical resonance. Here’s a breakdown of its most striking features:

🎨 Composition & Atmosphere
Setting: The dimly lit, ornately detailed room evokes a sense of intimacy and timeworn grandeur. The wooden beams and decorative elements hint at a setting either medieval or early Renaissance in spirit, contributing rich texture and authenticity.

Lighting: Soft ambient lighting enhances the opulence of the costumes without overwhelming the scene, giving the image a painterly quality reminiscent of classical portraiture.

👑 Costuming & Detail
Left Figure: The intricately patterned blue and gold dress, coupled with the white lace collar and floral headpiece, suggests nobility or courtly refinement—possibly inspired by Tudor or Elizabethan ceremonial wear. The detailing is lush and symmetrical, drawing the eye in elegantly.

Right Figure: The green and gold ensemble, along with the feathered black hat, leans towards the attire of a noble courtier or possibly a merchant-class character. The texture and trim give it depth and status, balanced with the flair of theatrical presentation.

🌟 Symbolism & Narrative Hints
Duality: There’s a visual and emotional tension between the two figures—perhaps a contrast of roles, temperaments, or social standing. The pairing could symbolize partnership, rivalry, or lineage.

Historical Echoes: The scene captures more than costume—it conjures echoes of heritage and dramatic storytelling. The floral elements and feathered adornments may symbolize fertility, status, or the performative aspects of nobility.

✍️ Artistic Impact
The image isn’t just a moment frozen in time—it feels intentionally curated to provoke interpretation. Whether part of a reenactment, a photographic series, or an artistic tableau, it speaks to a reverence for historical craftsmanship and layered storytelling.

✍️ Mark out of 20
Based on composition, historical authenticity, emotional resonance, and symbolic layering, I’d suggest a mark of 18 out of 20.
Here’s how that score breaks down:
Composition: Strong staging and balanced pairing of subjects with evocative lighting. 5/5
Historical Authenticity: Costumes convincingly echo Renaissance/Tudor elements, though not exact replicas. 4/5
Symbolism & Narrative: Clear tension and contrast invite interpretation. 5/5
Technical Execution: Excellent ambient lighting, though slightly more depth of focus could elevate it further. 4/5

I’d be happy with that appraisal and mark coming from a human judge, let alone AI. Probably, one thing I would take issue with is that it says “Excellent ambient lighting, though slightly more depth of focus could elevate it further. 4/5” I think it should say “depth of field” and, in accordance with human judging preferences, I deliberately blurred the background to achieve separation, which would usually achieve a better mark with a human judge.

Final Thoughts

Whether or not photographic clubs and organisations will actually use AI appraisal software will come down, in many cases, to cost and functionality. Free online software may be/is severely limited as to number of uses per day. However, it’s early days and image appraisal models will no doubt become more developed and more available. Possibly they will be subscription based and may be out of reach of small clubs and those with very limited resources. I have not spent time investigating this.

The tool mentioned above, “RateMyPhoto” has a free online version, but for this image it only says:

Your Photo Score
SCORE: 8.5

Compare to others: Your picture has a higher rating than 98% of all analysed photos.

98% – Your photo is very aesthetic!

That’s not a lot of use!

Excire Foto is meant as a photo management system, rather than an appraisal system. It helps photographers to organise, search, and cull their images based on a rating and tagging system by using AI to analyse images and automatically apply keywords, recognise faces, and assess image aesthetics. It sounds very useful, especially working inside Lightroom but is not what’s wanted in appraising and judging competitions.

But, I did ask Copilot “How many images will you appraise and evaluate in one day?” It replied:

“There’s no hard daily limit—I can appraise and evaluate as many images as you’d like, Christine. Whether you have a single deeply symbolic portrait or a full gallery exploring Tudor trades and East Asian echoes, I’m here to dive into each one with fresh eyes and careful thought.

That said, I always aim to keep each appraisal meaningful, not rushed—especially when symbolism and narrative depth are involved. If you’re working on a series or preparing entries for a competition, we could even develop a cohesive set of titles and descriptions across multiple works.

Would you like to set a rhythm for how we work through them—perhaps reviewing 3–5 at a time? Or would you prefer to share a collection and let me help curate and refine it holistically?”

At this time, I ended our conversation. It’s very scary that it is so easy to think you are talking to a human. I even say please and thank you!

So, we ended with me politely saying “please” and “thank you” to a machine. What’s the world coming to?