Towards the Virtual - AI Beauty Pageants and Their Implications for Society

The dynamic growth of Artificial Intelligence is accelerating rapidly, making AI present in almost every aspect of human life. Digital assistants available on smartphones, smart homes, autonomous cars, and even recently launched AI beauty pageants. The very first Miss AI pageant, announced by the World AI Creator Awards (WAICA) program and Fanvue company, marks a new era in beauty contests. The main idea of Miss AI is to present an AI-based character, which is evaluated based on its beauty, poise, and response to typical beauty pageant questions. What makes it innovative is that Artificial Intelligence not only participates but also serves as a judge. This is because the jury, in addition to normal humans, includes virtual influencers, like Spanish digital mouse Aitana Lopez. Beauty contests have always been controversial - after all, they involve judging individuals by their appearance and setting beauty standards. However, including Artificial Intelligence in this phenomenon raises even more profound ethical questions and blurs the boundary between the virtual world and the real world. This article focuses on researching how the idea of Miss AI impacts its audience, who primarily belong to a social media-driven society. The author used content analysis and case study methods to examine the topic. Drawing on the example of one of the most popular virtual influencers, Aitana Lopez, and her increasing popularity on social media, especially on Instagram, the author reflects on the ethical implications of the Miss AI concept and its ongoing perception by society. Due to the continuous growth of AI beauty pageants, the article provides initial insights into the topic and suggests potential future developments. What can be said for certain is that recent years have brought a significant AI revolution that affects and will continue to affect a growing number of dimensions of human existence. However, this raises many concerns, increasingly centered around ethics.