A platform offers us to become “artificial models” and the idea does not delight us. We’d rather bet on Bet22.
Many artists fear advances in artificial intelligence that could eventually “replace” them by filling image banks with fake – but free – photos and generating logos in two steps. The company Photo AI seems to want to surf on this fear by offering its customers to “take sumptuous photographs thanks to the first AI photographer”.
The platform thus wishes to replace flesh-and-blood photographers with artificial intelligence, which could generate images of its clientele without having “needing to pay an expensive photographer, hundreds or thousands of dollars”, perhaps. read on the company’s website. Photo AI indicates that anyone can become an “AI model” in “lively and realistic” photos directly “from their computer or phone”: “You can place yourself in different settings, with different outfits, doing different actions, with different expressions.” An opportunity to become a Sim, in less fun.
To generate your model avatar, it is necessary to “feed” the algorithm many photos of yourself, “various photos, including selfies and full-length portraits from different places and angles, with different clothes and expressions” . In about 27 minutes, Photo AI should generate the “model,” the site claims. Photos are then “taken” in 14 seconds and would make it possible to try on clothes or experience vicariously a graduation or club outing – for subscriptions ranging from $29 to $199 per month.
Shadows on the digital board
In its frequently asked questions, the platform does not hide that, as with all artificial intelligences, it is possible that oddities appear in the images, such as “extra arms or deformed faces”. “In our experience, three out of four photos will be pretty good and one out of 10 will be outstanding.” Excess limbs and extra teeth aside, the photos aren’t particularly beautiful or artistic. No need to have an overtrained eye to quickly realize that they are artificial. You don’t need to be an expert in good taste either (whatever that means) to find them of little interest.
Project founder, “Dutch independent entrepreneur” Pieter Levis wants to reassure users of his artificial intelligence that he protects their data and does not “sell it to third parties” – or, at any rate , not for the moment. He also asks his customers not to upload images of minors.
No word is said about the use of third-party images, however. Knowing that while scrolling, we quickly came across the portrait of a young woman in a leather negligee, we can’t help but think of the opportunities for revenge porn, or simply perverse uses, that the platform allows. One of the site’s main categories is for “swimsuit shoots”. There is no real need to explain how this option can open the door to problematic ideas.
In view of the different categories offered (“Wedding”, “Cosplay”, “Streetlooks”, “Maternity” or even “Music Festivals”), it seems that we can invent a whole life – or invent a life for someone another – without leaving his couch. We are not used to shooting blindly at the progress of artificial intelligence, but it is undoubtedly here that we draw the limit of what is acceptable.
