Monday night’s ‘Garden of Time’-themed Met Gala was the place to see the biggest names in music, film and fashion, even if some stars weren’t actually there.
DailyMail.com has spoken to two superfans of pop star Katy Perry, whose work with AI image generators “imagined” what Perry could have worn to the gala so vividly that they even fooled Perry’s own mother.
The images leaned heavily toward the “garden” part of this year’s Met Gala theme, with lush green ivies and floral patterns covering a mock Perry.
In one image, the ‘Firework’ composer’s hair flows in long curly waves, like 1940s screen siren Veronica Lake; in the other, an AI Perry sports a trendy ‘wet look’.
“I intend to continue creating content that inspires and delights fans, without disrespecting the image of the artist,” Brazilian fan ‘Sali’ told DailyMail.com about his work.
Sali, who also created a bizarre fake AI of Billie Eilish at last night’s gala, knows his work is “provoking debates about the ethical use of AI,” particularly in an election year that has already seen robocalls. Biden and images of Trump supporters falsified by AI. .
DailyMail.com has spoken to two superfans of pop artist Katy Perry, whose work with artificial intelligence (AI) image generators “imagined” what Perry might have worn to the gala. The final product was so vivid that fans even fooled Katy Perry’s own mother.
‘Sali’, a Brazilian Katy Perry fan, told DailyMail.com that he knows his work is “provoking debates about the ethical use of AI”, particularly in an election year. But this sincere and dedicated Perry fan hopes there is still freedom to create “positive and admirable content” with advanced AI.
But this sincere and dedicated Katy Perry fan hopes there is still freedom for the creation of “positive and admirable content” with this surprisingly advanced technology, as he explained to DailyMail.com the artisanal process he used to make his fakes.
Sali, a nickname for the AI image creator whose name is Gustavo and who wishes to remain private, explained that his process was more than creating an AI message.
“She was created by AI on Bing,” Sali told DailyMail.com, “then I remastered everything and added her face.”
Launched in March 2023 as a new feature for Microsoft’s Bing search engine, Co-pilot designer helps users “create images from words with AI.”
The tool, while powerful, is far from perfect according to Sali, who describes Bing’s offering as “one of the best AIs for creating looks” and ideal for “generating creativity.”
“The attempts in Bing to generate an image are varied until I reach the result that I consider perfect,” he said.
Once the app has created some captivating images, Sali turns to Leonardo.AIa generative AI startup based in Sydney, Australia, to make adjustments.
“It is an AI that adds quality and realism to the image,” said the Katy Perry fan. “So, after generating the image with Bing, I send it to Leonardo, who adds texture to the skin, realism, and then makes final adjustments in Photoshop.”
Sali, a Brazilian Katy Perry fan, is also dedicated to creating AI images of other celebrities. “One edit that caused quite a stir was Billie Eilish’s at the recent Met Gala,” she told DailyMail.com.
Social media was abuzz with AI-created deepfakes purporting to show images of the rich and famous at the 2024 Met Gala, including this realistic image of Rihanna (above). This image of Rihanna, however, was not made by Sali or her fellow fan Kauán.
Sali explained that using Adobe’s tried-and-true image and photo editing suite allows him to subtly correct facial proportions in his AI Katy Perry and sometimes insert real photos of her face into the AI-generated image, ” editing them as necessary.
‘I also edit faces of other celebrities besides Katy. An edition that caused a stir was that of Billie Eilish at the recent Met Gala.
A fellow Perry fan, Kauán, who goes by @wanthatoo on the Elon Musk-owned social media site X, told DailyMail.com that he was allowed to play a minor role as “part of the creative process.”
Kauán, through a Portuguese translation, told DailyMail.com that he was excited and relieved that Katy Perry herself appeared to give her blessing to the project, retroactively, ‘Liking’ X posts of the images of Sali AI on the platform.
“Using AI edits, in this case fan-made, isn’t necessarily harmful, right?” Kauan said.
“However, it is clear that it has the potential for uses harmful to society,” the fan admitted, “with deepfakes, creation of child pornography, political use […] etc!’
While Katy Perry posted a screenshot of her conversation with her mother, who had fallen for the viral images, thinking her daughter had attended the Met Gala this year (left), warning her to ‘BE CAREFUL,’ she finally hit its AI creating images. fans a tacit ‘like’ of approval (right)
“Receiving Katy Perry’s approval was gratifying and motivates me to move forward, aware of the responsibility I assume,” Sali told DailyMail.com about the silent omen of trust.
The songwriter also posted a screenshot of her conversation with her mother, who had fallen in love with the viral images, thinking that her daughter had attended the Met Gala this year.
‘Haha, mom, the AI caught you too, BE CAREFUL!’ Perry responded to the text message, based on the screenshot.
Marveling at the fuss and attention, Sali said: “I feel very happy, but at the same time, very scared by the scale it has taken.”
“It’s been very, very… crazy,” Sali told DailyMail.com.
While he personally finds this new era of hyper-advanced, hyper-realistic AI imaging “amazing,” he understands that his ethically motivated approach is not the only one being practiced.
‘On my profile, I dedicate all my edits to Katy Perry. I only seek to praise her beauty and create concepts, avoiding sexualization,” Sali said.
“I understand that it may cause discomfort to some, but I am committed to creating positive and admirable content.”
