AI Beauty Pageant Is A Real Thing Because We Just Want To Kickstart The Dystopia

By Jacob VanGundy | Published

The world’s first AI beauty pageant is coming, making the criticism that pageants promote unrealistic beauty standards true in a very literal way. The Miss AI contest will crown an entirely digital winner based on a combination of traditional criteria and new tech-based categories. It is the latest development coming out of emerging technologies that feels straight out of a cyberpunk satire. 

The First Miss AI

Miss AI is being hosted by the World AI Creator Awards, WAICA for short. The AI beauty pageant is the first of multiple awards contests the organization hopes to present in the coming years. Fanvue, a company that runs a platform for various AI content, has partnered with the organization for the event, which they hope will promote the growth of AI creators. 

AI Models Compete In Different Categories

The categories for the AI beauty pageant mix typical beauty pageant criteria and more specific factors based on the contestants’ digital nature. The standard categories for evaluation are appearance and a question-and-answer portion. In addition to those tried-and-true categories, the digital contestants will be graded based on technical skill and their engagement metrics on social media. 

The judges are also a fitting mix of tech, pageant, and business-related experts. Established AI creators Aitana Lopez and Emilly Peligrini will be joined by beauty pageant historian Sally Ann Fawcett and marketing expert Andrew Bloch. This panel of judges will score the digital creators and select a winner to be revealed on May 10. 

Real Cash For The Unreal Winner

Of course, the AI beauty pageant will be complete with an online award ceremony to celebrate the winners. Prizes will be given to the top three creators, based on their placing. While the contestants and awards show may be fully digital the winners will receive very real awards, totaling $20,000 in prizes. 

Traditional, which is to say human, beauty pageants have been around since the late 19th century but the AI element of this particular event is making headlines and stirring up controversy. Of course, normal pageants have long been controversial with accusations that they are sexist or exploitative being common. While the general public will likely view the event as a novelty, it remains to be seen if the pageant community will embrace the WAICA event or reject it outright.

Combining Two Controversial Subjects Into One

Combining two controversial subjects, AI and beauty pageants, seems like a recipe for disaster but the event organizers seem confident it will succeed. A press release from the WAICA called the event a “leap forward” for beauty contests, noting the recent growth of AI creators. Will Monanage, co-founder of Fanvue displayed similar confidence in his comments about the pageant, comparing it to the Oscars

It’s hard to say how AI will influence our world as it becomes part of every facet of our lives. An AI beauty pageant could easily turn into a laughable one-off event, or it could legitimize the idea and create more awards based on fully digital personas. Regardless of how the event goes, there’s no denying it is a first-of-its-kind pageant.  

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