The contest was for a high quality entry that is real. The AI entry wasn't real, so its quality is utterly immaterial and irrelevant to the discussion.
You can make an ultra high quality fake check and deposit it and yet it will still bounce because it turns out the quality is irrelevant if it isn't real.
It also didn't win. By definition a disqualified entry is not a winning entry. That is what the entire article is about, if you read it! The winning entry is here: https://www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/2026-small-world-i...