Virtual beauties and their creators will receive their Oscars (8 photos)

Online platform Fanvue announced the world's first beauty contest for virtual models. The AI-generated ladies will be judged on their beauty and influence on social networks, as well as their level of technical performance.





Fanvue Miss AI will be the first beauty pageant for models created using artificial intelligence.

Acceptance of applications for participation in the competition has already begun. The event will take place online in May. Its prize fund will be $20,000, which will be distributed among the winners. The results of the competition will be announced on May 10.



The contestants will be evaluated by a panel of judges, which includes two popular AI models - Emily Pellegrini and Aitana Lopez. They are famous for being able to mislead thousands of social network users by posing as real girls.

The jury will also include Andrew Bloch, public relations adviser to British billionaire Alan Sugar, and Sally Ann Fawcett, who has been chief judge of the Miss Great Britain pageant for the past 10 years.

Will Monanage, co-founder of Fanvue, hopes the events will become something of an Oscar for AI content creators.



Jury member and virtual model Aitana Lopez

To take part in the competition, participants just need to provide an image of a woman generated by artificial intelligence and answer a series of questions - from the standard question “Name one of your dreams that would make the world a better place” to a list of AI tools used and technical specifics.

Fanvue, which organizes the awards, says it expects to receive thousands of entries into the competition. From these, the top ten will be selected, and then the final three will be announced at an online awards ceremony in May.

They will be assessed by an expert commission of four judges specializing in competitions, marketing and modeling. However, perhaps the most unusual detail of the competition is that some of the judges will also be generated by artificial intelligence.



Virtual model of Kimochii

The jury consists of Aitana Lopez and Emily Pelligrini, each of whom has hundreds of thousands of followers on social networks. Of course, the competition will be judged by their creators, who have extensive experience turning AI images into advertising revenue. Also joining the jury will be two non-virtual judges, Sally Ann Fossett and Andrew Bloch.

In many ways, this competition will resemble a regular beauty contest - the appearance of the participants will be judged based on the images they send.

“As a historian of traditional competitive art, it’s exciting to be involved in a prize that seems so futuristic,” says Sally Ann Fossett. “It’s interesting that there are many parallels between real competition participants and artificial intelligence creators and how they interact with their audience. However, it will not be like a regular beauty pageant.”



Jury member and virtual model Emily Pellegrini

However, in addition to the fact that none of the participants are human, there is another significant difference from a traditional beauty pageant: the use of technology will be a key judging category. Participants and their digital masterpieces will be judged based on their level of proficiency in using AI tools. In particular, you can score extra points for high-quality detail around the eyes and hands, areas that some AI image generators struggle with.

The availability and capabilities of AI image generators have increased dramatically over the past 12 months. Tools like Stability AI allow users to create complex images based on simple text clues, and a range of artificial intelligence tools can enhance those images.



Virtual model Cassidy Davis

Contestants will also be judged on their social media influence and will be awarded points based on the number of their fans and how they interact with their followers.

The questionnaire also asks contestants about their total income on different platforms, since the main goal of creating AI models is to make money on social networks.

For example, Aitana Lopez, the creation of the Spanish media company The Clueless, can often be seen on social networks posing in clothes from Victoria's Secret, Guess and Brandy Melville. Some fashion brands are willing to pay for such placements because they can avoid the hassle of working with live models.



Virtual model Amy Everhart

Accounts of virtual models can be extremely convincing. Emily Pellegrini's creators claim they've even received love messages from famous footballers and billionaires.



Virtual model Hayley Lopez

There's big money in store for the winner of this beauty pageant, with a grand prize of $5,000 cash and a $3,000 "content creator mentorship program." The second place winner will receive free access to the Imagine course and a $2,000 Fanvue advertising package. The third place winner will win a free consultation with Fanvue and a $500 Fanvue advertising package.