World’s first beauty pageant for AI women is announced: ‘Miss AI’ contest will see computer-generated ladies face off in tests of beauty, technology and social-media clout – with a $20,000 prize at stake

Beauty, poise and classical pageantry may not be the first things that come to mind when you think of AI.

But contestants in the world’s first AI beauty pageant will need all of this in spades if they want to claim their share of the $20,000 (£16,000) prize pool.

During the Fanvue Miss AI pageant, AI-generated ladies will compete against each other in front of a panel of judges, including two AI influencers.

These synthetic competitors will be judged on beauty, social media influence, and the use of AI tools by their creators.

Will Monanage, co-founder of Fanvue, says he hopes these events will “become the Oscars of the AI ​​creation economy.”

To participate, participants simply need to submit an AI-generated image of a woman and provide answers to a list of questions.

These questions range from election questions like “What would be your one dream to make the world a better place?” to technical details of the AI ​​used.

Fanvue, which organizes the awards, says it expects thousands of participants in the competition.

These participants will be narrowed down to a top 10 before the final three are announced during an online awards ceremony in May.

They are ranked by an expert panel of four judges with expertise in the worlds of pageantry, marketing and modeling.

Perhaps the most unusual detail of the competition is that even some of the judges will be AI-generated.

The panel consists of two “AI creators,” Aitana Lopez and Emily Pelligrini, who have each amassed hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.

Of course, in reality, it will be their creators who will do the judging, bringing expertise on how AI images can be turned into ad revenue.

They will be joined on the panel by two human judges: Sally Ann Fawcett, Britain’s only election historian, and Andrew Bloch, Lord Sugar’s PR adviser.

In many ways, the procedure will be much like any other beauty pageant.

Entrants submit images to be judged based on their ‘beauty and poise’ and aspects of ‘classical pageantry’.

Ms Fawcet said: ‘As one of the world’s only traditional pageantry historians, it is very exciting to be involved in an award that feels so futuristic.

‘Interestingly, there are so many parallels between real-life show participants and AI makers, and how they interact with their audiences.

However, there are also many ways in which this will be nothing like your average beauty pageant.

Besides the fact that none of the participants are human, the other major difference is that the use of technology will be a key judging category.

Contestants will be judged based on their “skill and implementation of AI tools to create their digital masterpieces.”

Fanvue especially notes that points can be earned for the details around eyes and hands – areas that some AI image generators struggle with.

The past twelve months have seen an explosion in the availability and power of AI image generators.

Tools like Stability AI allow users to create complex images from simple text prompts, while a range of AI tools allow further refinement of these images.

The participants are also judged on their ‘social media influence’ and score points based on their fan numbers and the way they interact with followers.

The sign-up questionnaire also asks those who sign up for the contest about their total earnings across platforms.

While this may seem unusual, the main purpose of creating AI models is to make money through social media.

Aitana Lopez, the founder of Spanish media company The Clueless, can often be seen on their Instagram posing in clothes from Victoria’s Secret, Guess and Brandy Melville.

Some fashion brands pay top dollar for these placements, as Lopez’s creators charge more than €1,000 (£800) per post, thus avoiding the hassle of dealing with real models.

The creators behind Aitana Lopez say: “The number of AI creators around the world has experienced incredible growth over the past twelve months, and Aitana has built an adoring fan base.”

The stories of the AI ​​women are so compelling that the creators of Emily Pellegrini say they have even received amorous messages from footballers and billionaires.

Some of these AI models are now moving to more direct forms of interaction with their fans to increase revenue even further.

Platforms like Fanvue allow AI creators to hide content, often with a more mature theme, behind a paywall and charge for access.

Using other AI tools, these creators can also send automatically generated text and even voice messages to paying fans.

According to Fanvue, Aitana Lopez earns her creators $10,000 ($8,000) per month for their services.

Mr Montague says: ‘The maker economy is an extremely exciting place to be in right now, and with the help of our platform there has been exponential growth in the number of AI makers entering the space, growing their fan base and monetizing contents.’

And there’s big money to be made for the beauty pageant winner too, with a top prize of $5,000 (£4,000) in cash and an ‘imagine creator mentorship programme’ worth $3,000 (£2,400).

The second place will receive free access to a course on their Imagine program plus a $2,000 (£1,600) promotional package on the Fanvue platform.

The third place entrant will win a free consultation with Fanvue plus a $500 (£400) promotional package on the Fanvue platform.