I see a vast difference between using AI to create a mask in my image (e.g., to adjust the background exposure, focus, etc.), vs using AI to create a whole new image using my own image library as a basis.
In the former case, I am using AI to perform a task that I could perform by myself. AI is saving me time, but I remain in full control of the actual editing process. In this case, AI is a tool that is automatic/faster, but otherwise provides the same result as the manual selection tools already provided by Photoshop and other apps. I feel perfectly comfortable with this scenario.
In the latter case, however, AI is creating the image, not me. Even though the source pixels may have come from my own image stock, and AI is following a set of criteria that I provide, the resulting image is a surprise….and so it is not really my creation. I don’t believe these should currently be eligible for any SRPS competition.
However, if future AI capabilities allow us to specifically select the images it will use to create a new composite image, and we can tell the AI exactly what we want it to do, then this becomes another tool in our post-editing box, and should be eligible for entry in SRPS creative/pictorial competitions.