AI Beauty Pageant Sparks Outrage Over Unrealistic Standards and Objectification of Women

The first “Miss AI” contest, held by influencer platform Fanvue, has sparked controversy for promoting unrealistic beauty standards through AI-generated social media influencers.

Key details of the contest: Fanvue’s “Miss AI” pageant, part of the “World AI Creator Awards,” judged AI-generated social media influencers:

• The winner, Kenza Layli, is a fictional Instagram influencer from Morocco with over 200,000 followers, created by Myriam Bessa of the Phoenix AI agency.
• The contest awarded cash prizes to the creators of the top three AI-generated influencers, with Bessa receiving $5,000 for Layli’s first-place win.
• CNN covered the event, seemingly referring to the AI-generated images as if they were real people, quoting Layli’s AI-generated or ghostwritten acceptance speech.

Criticism from the AI community: The contest has drawn backlash from women in the AI field, who argue that it objectifies women and sets a problematic precedent:

• Dr. Sasha Luccioni, a Hugging Face AI researcher, expressed disappointment but not surprise, calling the contest “another stepping stone on the road to objectifying women with AI.”
• Critics argue that the lack of gender diversity in the AI field has led to the creation of AI-generated images that promote an ideal of what women should look like.
• The rise of AI-generated Instagram influencers, made possible by tools like Stable Diffusion and techniques like Dreambooth, has attracted criticism since its emergence in 2022.

Analyzing the implications: The “Miss AI” contest highlights the pervasiveness of AI-generated fakery in contemporary culture and raises questions about the potential consequences:

• The contest’s controversial nature serves as publicity for Fanvue, which monetizes attention online, regardless of whether it is AI-generated or human-generated.
• The event promotes unrealistic beauty standards that no human can live up to, potentially exacerbating feelings of inadequacy among both women and men.
• As AI-generated influencers become more prevalent, it is crucial to consider the ethical implications and the impact on societal perceptions of beauty and authenticity.