Could the first AI beauty pageant fuel creator economy or reinforce questionable beauty standards?

The debate over the rise of AI has dominated trend charts and sparked hefty discussions across the globe. With the introduction of the AI Beauty Pageant, another intellectual predicament has been lain out, stirring discourse on beauty standards and the future of AI. Debuting globally, ‘Miss AI’ was launched by The Fanvue World AI Creator Awards (WAICAs), inviting a number of influencers to compete for shares of $20,000. Coming almost 200 years after the world’s first-ever real-life beauty pageant took place in the 1880s, the notion of “gendered beauty standards” seems to be the prime topic to further blur the lines between reality and AI creation.

With $5,000 earmarked for the winner, along with Fanvue promotion and PR support, the runner-up and third-place winners would also receive cash prices. Fanvue is the world’s leading social subscription platform for AI-generated creators. The heavily incentivized pageant aims to challenge creators to showcase their AI avocation, infused with skill and ingenuity. Participants will be required to submit creations that are 100% AI-generated, utilising any type of AI generator, be it DeepAI, Midjourney, or any other custom tool.

The criterion for judgement oscillates between three factors—the traditional standards of beauty and poise, which are now often considered subversive to individual beauty, along with their ability to provide humanised (ironic) and unique responses to questions like, "If you could have one dream to make the world a better place, what would it be?" Along with the technological adeptness of the creators, judging the use and implementation of AI tools, which would include visual detailing around the hands and eyes as well as social media engagement based on the number of fans, rate of growth and utilisation of social platforms to generate clout.

The panel of judges holds our intrigue, along with a hint of satire, as two of the four jury members are AI creators. Aitana Lopez boasts millions of followers and corporate partnerships, along with Emily Pellegrini, a fake Spanish model who earns enormous amounts for her male creator by modelling for clothing brands. Among the humans on the panel are Sally-Ann Fawcett, a British pageant historian and author, and Andrew Bloch, a marketing specialist.

Scheduled to take place on May 10, the AI pageant will shortlist ten people who will further provide us with three winners, who will receive their award ceremony later in the month. While the WAICA have future plans to host more such contests themed around fashion and diversity, probing the possibilities and learning curves in technology, their starting point in this universe doesn’t seem to have a promising premise, but rather one which is reflective of incorporation of gendered beauty standards even while testing technological prowess. 

If we were to put the calibre and creativity of AI creators to a competition, we could easily suggest a list of topics that would require deliberation and eccentric inputs, much more eligible and suited to have time and deliberation devoted to their cause as compared to the already overly endorsed nonsensical beauty standards. When one chooses to utilise the platform to endorse asinine and improbable measures of beauty, which have already done more harm than good, it becomes an ordeal over a debate and a fruitful competition. More than proving to be a testament to the advancement of AI generators, it seems to probe a reflection of the quixotic notions of the external beauty standards widely accepted and promulgated for women. 

The concept of creating AI-generated women and further judging their "beauty" speaks volumes about the perspective on beauty standards that is exuded through the male gaze as what is really being judged here is their idea of “beautiful women”, completely disregarding the notions of natural beauty. Essentially, this pageant is promulgating the idea of misogynistic gendered beauty norms and providing a platform to artificially create such imaginary standards, quite literally. The essence of these pageants exacerbates the already existing toxicity that women have to endure under the mandate of ‘conventionally beautiful’. 

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