Women who don’t exist

Anne Kerdi is a young Breton woman in love with her corner of the country, which she enthusiastically promotes on her Instagram page. The brunette posts photos of herself, smiling with all her very white teeth, posing in the parliament of Brittany, near a sailboat in Saint-Malo or giving a conference in Brest. Anne is also one of the 10 finalists of a beauty contest for women… who don’t exist.

This competition, Miss AI, launched last April and which ended at the beginning of July, thus makes history by becoming the first beauty contest for women generated by artificial intelligence (AI).

The competition judges, two humans and two AIs, used three criteria to choose the 10 finalists, and then the 3 winners, from 1,500 applications: beauty, technological realism and influence on social networks.

Moroccan Kenza Layli, followed by nearly 200,000 people on Instagram, won the first prize in the competition. This AI spreads messages that are intended to inspire women in Africa. The second prize was awarded to Lalina, a French brunette with nearly 120,000 followers. Finally, globetrotting redhead Olivia C, from Portugal, came in third place.

This is the first competition organized by the World AI Creator Awards, which promotes the work of artificial intelligence creators, in partnership with Fanvue. This platform competes with OnlyFans, on which users can broadcast sexual content for payment.

Finalists “a little too beautiful”

Sally-Ann Fawcett, who has competed and judged in beauty pageants in Britain as well as authored a series of books about the world, told The Press having agreed to be a judge for Miss AI on the condition that there be “some diversity and not just perfect women.”

M^me Fawcett was looking for a winner “who has an important message to convey to the world, who wants to use her social media to make a difference.”

She does admit, however, that the 10 finalists in the competition “are a little too beautiful.” “But I don’t think they’re unattainably beautiful,” she adds. Next year, she’d like to “see someone who’s maybe plus-size, someone who’s not the archetype of beauty.”

Aitana Lopez, a pink-haired content creator from Barcelona with over 320,000 followers on Instagram, is one of the contest’s “fake” judges, generated by AI. However, it is not her, but the team that created her, The Clueless, a virtual modeling agency, who is participating in the selection process.

Sébastien Keranvran created the character of finalist Anne Kerdi a year ago to promote Brittany, his native French region. He decided to enter the competition when he learned that the online message conveyed by the candidates was part of the criteria. “If it had been strictly a beauty contest, maybe…[Anne] “would not have been a finalist at all,” says its creator, who heads the artificial intelligence development agency Adeliade.

According to Mr. Keranvran, Anne is entirely created with AI: “these are not photos that are doctored at all.” More than a dozen software programs are needed to “bring life” to the character, both visually and in terms of personality. She is able to write her own posts on Instagram and respond in the way she deems appropriate to her subscribers thanks to her algorithms. Mr. Keranvran assures that he does not give too many instructions to the software so as not to steer them according to his own personality.

Anne often tends to respond in a very jovial manner, explains her creator. “Sometimes, I find that she is too enthusiastic.”

Mostly male creators

Why did you choose to create a female character? According to Mr. Keranvran, a year ago, a man was more difficult to achieve than a woman on a technological level, just like a face that remains the same in each publication. According to him, a woman was easier to create “because of her nuances”, that is to say that he could change her hairstyle, her makeup, etc.

However, according to his observations, the community of creators of AI-generated images of women is predominantly male, with these men seeking “perhaps to conceptualize what they have in mind” with AI of “extremely sexy women.”

Mr. Keranvran assures that this is not his intention with Anne. “If I had wanted to sexualize her or [la créer de manière provocante]I would have done more chest and butt development,” he says. According to him, Anne represents the average Breton woman, that is to say that in Brittany, “most women are white” and “thin.”

Competition judge Sally-Ann Fawcett, for her part, argues that women were involved in creating the finalists. “These aren’t just men sitting in their bedrooms and creating fake girlfriends,” she says.

The latter assures that there are plans for a male version of the competition. “We certainly must not let the vision [des créateurs d’IA] becomes a standard,” warns Mr. Keranvran.

Visit Miss AI’s website

Kenza Layli

Winner

Morocco
198,000 followers on Instagram

“Winning Miss AI motivates me even more to continue my work to advance AI technology,” Kenza Layli said in a statement.

Check out Kenza Layli’s Instagram account

Lalina

2^e place

France
120,000 followers on Instagram

“Working alone on Lalina, its content and its social networks was a real challenge […] “Finishing second in the Miss AI 2024 pageant is a huge reward for all the hard work,” its creator said in a statement.

Check out Lalina’s Instagram account

Olivia C

3^e place

Portugal
12,000 followers on Instagram

“This competition has been a very enriching experience and being recognized among such talented creators is a huge honor,” its designer said in a statement.

Check out Olivia C’s Instagram account