The world’s first AI beauty pageant raises questions about the tech’s impact on beauty standards
Key takeaways: The “Miss AI” pageant showcases the power of AI to generate realistic images of women, but also perpetuates traditional beauty ideals:
- The 10 AI-generated contestants, selected from over 1,500 entries, are mostly young, thin, White women with symmetrical features and long hair.
- While creators argue the tech itself isn’t the problem, research shows AI can reflect and reinforce gender and racial stereotypes by learning from biased online data.
Broader implications for beauty standards: As AI-generated images proliferate, experts warn they could further narrow definitions of beauty:
- Dr. Kerry McInerney of the University of Cambridge notes we’re “losing touch with what an unedited face looks like” as digitally enhanced images become the norm.
- The pageant aims to judge contestants on more than looks, but most still conform to conventional beauty standards, with only some diversity in size, age, and “flaws.”
AI influencers gain traction: Many “Miss AI” contestants double as AI influencers, a growing trend in marketing:
- AI avatars can earn tens of thousands per month promoting products, without the flaws, scandals or pay demands of human influencers.
- Some, like Seren Ay and Anne Kerdi, form parasocial bonds with followers who interact with them like real people.
Challenging biases in the tech: While the pageant aims to showcase AI’s creative potential, it also highlights the need to examine the data used to train these systems:
- Sofia Novales of The Clueless Press, which created judging avatar Aitana López, says they aim to “encourage AI personalities to be diverse and acknowledge existing issues surrounding beauty standards.”
- Understanding the gender, racial and sexual orientation biases in training data is crucial as AI is also being used to create avatars for sex work.
In conclusion, the “Miss AI” pageant offers a fascinating glimpse into the future of AI-generated media and its complicated relationship with beauty standards. As the technology advances, it will be crucial to examine the biases embedded in these systems and push for greater diversity and realism in the images they produce. While AI influencers may be here to stay, we must not lose sight of the importance of authentic, unedited representations of beauty in all its forms.
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