Beauty, poise and classical pageantry may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of AI.
But contestants in the world’s first AI beauty pageant will need all of this in abundance if they are to claim their share of the $20,000 (£16,000) prize pool.
In the Fanvue Miss AI pageant, AI-generated women will face off in front of a panel of judges, including two AI influencers.
These synthetic competitors will be judged on their beauty, their influence on social media, and their creators’ use of artificial intelligence tools.
Will Monanage, co-founder of Fanvue, says he hopes these events “become the Oscars of the AI creator economy.”
The world’s first AI beauty pageant has been announced, with digital competitors set to compete for a share of $20,000 (£16,000).
Even the judges of this competition will be generated by AI. Aitana López (pictured) participates in the panel, an AI model with more than 300,000 followers on Instagram.
To participate, competitors only need to submit an AI-generated image of a woman and provide answers to a list of questions.
These questions range from basic pageant topics like “what would be your one dream to make the world a better place?” to the technical details of the AI used.
Fanvue, which organizes the awards, says it expects to receive thousands of contest entries.
These contestants will be narrowed down to a top 10 before the final three are announced at an online awards ceremony in May.
They will be judged by an expert panel of four judges with experience in the world of pageantry, marketing and modeling.
However, perhaps the most unusual detail of the competition is that even some of the judges will be generated by AI.
Competitors like Kimochii (pictured) will submit AI-generated images of women who will be judged on their beauty and poise.
The panel includes two ‘AI creators’, Aitana López and Emily Pelligrini, each of whom have amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
Of course, it will really be its creators who will judge, providing expertise on how to turn AI images into advertising revenue.
They will be joined on the panel by two human judges: Sally Ann Fawcett, Britain’s only beauty pageant historian, and Andrew Bloch, Lord Sugar’s public relations adviser.
In many ways, the process will be very similar to any other beauty pageant.
Contestants submit images that are judged on their “beauty and poise” and aspects of “classical magnetism.”
Mrs Fawcet says: “As one of the world’s only traditional historians of pageantry, it’s really exciting to be involved in awards that seem so futuristic.”
‘Interestingly, there are many parallels between real-life show contestants and AI creators, and how they interact with their audiences.
However, there are also many ways in which this will be nothing like your average beauty pageant.
Beyond the fact that none of the contestants are human, the other big difference is that the use of technology will be a key category to judge.
Contestants will be judged on their “ability and implementation of artificial intelligence tools to create their digital masterpieces.”
Contestants like this AI-generated woman will also be judged on their “social media influence” and how well they have monetized their online followers by a panel that includes AI creator Emily Pellegrini (pictured).
Fanvue notes in particular that there are points to be won for details around the eyes and hands, areas that some AI imagers have trouble with.
The last 12 months has seen an explosion in the availability and power of AI imagers.
Tools like Stability AI allow users to create complex images from simple text messages, while a variety of AI tools allow these images to be further refined.
Contestants will also be judged on their “social media influence” and will earn points based on their number of followers and how they interact with their followers.
In the application questionnaire, contest entrants are also asked about their total earnings across all platforms.
While this may seem unusual, the main goal of creating AI models is to make money through social media.
Aitana López, the brainchild of Spanish media company The Clueless, can often be seen on her Instagram posing in clothing from Victoria’s Secret, Guess and Brandy Melville.
Some fashion brands pay top dollar for these placements, with Lopez’s creators charging more than $1,000 (£800) per post and avoiding the hassle of dealing with real models.
The creators behind Aitana López say: “The number of AI creators around the world has seen incredible growth in the last twelve months, and Aitana has built an adoring fan base.”
The stories of the AI women are so convincing that the creators of Emily Pellegrini say they have even received loving messages from footballers and billionaires.
AI models like Kassidy Davis (pictured) have the potential to generate huge income for their creators through advertising collaborations and selling “premium” content to fans.
Even though contestants like Amy Everharrt (pictured) aren’t real women, they’ll still have to answer classic game show questions like “what would be your one dream to make the world a better place?”
The winner of the competition will walk away with a top prize of $5,000 (£4,000) in cash and a ‘mentorship program for imaginative creators’ valued at $3,000 (£2,400). In the photo: Hailey Lopez
Some of these AI models are now adopting more direct forms of interaction with their fans to further increase revenue.
Through platforms like Fanvue, AI creators can hide content, often with a more adult theme, behind a paywall and charge for access.
Using other AI tools, these creators can also send automatically generated text and even voice messages to paying fans.
According to Fanvue, Aitana López generates her creators $10,000 ($8,000) a month for her services.
Montague says: “The creator economy is an extremely exciting place right now and, with the help of our platform, there has been exponential growth in the number of AI creators entering the space, growing their fanbases and monetizing the content”.
And there’s big money to be won for the winner of this beauty pageant, too, with a top prize of $5,000 (£4,000) in cash and a ‘mentorship program for imaginative creators’ worth $3,000 (£2,400).
Second place will receive free access to a course from their Imagine program plus a $2,000 (£1,600) promotional package on the Fanvue platform.
The third place contestant will win a free consulting call with Fanvue plus a $500 (£400) promotional package on the Fanvue platform.