The internet is about to have a beauty pageant but it’s not for people. It is, in fact, for artificially generated female models to see who is the best looking one is. And presumably to see who is the brightest, the kindest and the most skilled.

What kind of beauty pageant is this? And who’s really being judged? No one’s really judging a person who doesn’t exist. It’s not as if these images are generated after real people with real skills and real character. I believe that those being judged are the creators of these AI images. What’s being judged is their technical skills in bringing a 3 dimensional image to life and being able to make it so lifelike that it’s hard to believe that they are but pixels on a screen.

After all, how can anyone in their right mind judge an AI model for its intellect or skill? Remember GIGO? What they are really judging, and I’ll wager no one wants to admit this, is the man or woman behind the fake person.

Let’s face it, these models are fake and the whole process is, in my view, a complete waste of time and, quite frankly, dangerous. The question some might ask, and should ask once they’ve seen the pageant and been frightened by it, is whether these models are, in fact, created from someone’s imagination or whether they’ve invaded someone’s privacy and modelled it after them. What parameters did they put into the program in order for it to create the image that’s being seen?

We all know that people are using AI to abuse and to deceive people. They’re creating famous lookalikes, who often can’t be distinguished from the actual person, and programming them to say whatever they want them to say. These have been celebrities who are supposedly endorsing products and services they would never endorse just to persuade us to accept that product or service. They’re also using AI lookalikes to endorse political views they wouldn’t have to further their own causes. They’re also using them just to make waves on the internet as they did with the Jamie Bulger case.

The AI times we live in are very dangerous and confusing times indeed. Many years ago, before the internet, we thought that someone faking a logo on a letterhead was dangerous and people often remarked, it’s amazing what you can do with a computer these days. And that was back in 1993! We are now in 2024 and that remark is as true today as it was 30 odd years ago. It’s not just amazing but shocking and scary what can be done on a computer or even a phone these days.

Several weeks ago, a video emerged of the British Princess of Wales explaining she had been diagnosed with cancer, that she was OK, she was resting and being treated really well. Did you know that millions of people still think that that video was an AI generated video of the Princess? Laymen started analysing the video’s background, her hands, the jumper she was wearing and even the way her fringe fell across her face. If this was 30 years ago or even 10 years ago, such a thought would never have crossed people’s minds. AI has made everything look suspicious to everyone, even if it might not be. Even if a footage is genuinely real, AI technology has made people automatically jump to the AI video conclusion. They might be right, or they might not be. but now everything to everyone is suspect.

Because of my YouTube channel I try to find ideas on how I could improve my videos to create engagement. Many say, show your face but not everyone is able to show their faces all the time. It could be they can’t be bothered to put on makeup or their background is not aesthetically pleasing. Do you know what video suggestion keeps popping up on my feed? How to create a realistic AI of yourself for your video and how to change your background to anything for free. The idea of the background is something to think about, but an AI of myself? No way!