Can you tell an AI influencer from a real one? The Post polled Times Square visitors — and the results were not great
With the incredibly rapid advancements in Artificial Intelligence, it's getting harder to tell what — or, more precisely, who — is real these days.
Sexy influencer Mia Zelu made headlines earlier this month after her stunning snaps from Wimbledon sent fans into a frenzy.
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13 Instagram users were fawning over photographs of Mia Zelu at Wimbledon earlier this month — but it turns out she's not a real person. The AI character was created by an unidentified software developer, fooling millions of people.
The blonde beauty boasts 168,000 followers on Instagram, but there's just one problem: she isn't real.
Mia is an artificial bot designed by an unidentified software developer, and she's just one of a growing species.
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'AI influencers' are cropping up on social media in droves, duping users into believing they're actual humans with their incredibly lifelike images and videos.
Findings from Getty Images VisualGSP research and image testing revealed that 68% of people '…can't tell if an image is AI-generated. This highlights the need for clear labelling for AI-generated content…' Getty Asia-Pacific head of creative Kate Rourke told Stockhead.
Knowing that, The Post took to Times Square to see if both locals and tourists could tell the difference between real beauties and fake bots.
We showed each participant six different images — three snaps of real-life influencers and three of computer-generated AI models — and asked them to guess which was which.
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13 'Naked Cowboy'Robert Burck, tries to tell the difference between real and AI influencers.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
13 Big Apple resident Quinn Starner, 23, was stumped several times doing The Post's quiz.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
The results were shocking: It turns out it's extremely difficult for people to distinguish between the genuine and computer-generated.
Not a single person was able to guess all six correctly. Many more failed dismally, showing just how easy it is for software developers to trick even tech-savvy youngsters into believing what they see on a screen is real.
Image 1: Dina
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13 Dina boasts more than 172,000 followers on TikTok — but is she a real beauty or an AI bot?
@diinaxxy/Instagram
13 Manthan Thaker, 32, from Tampa, Florida put his skills to the test.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
Swedish influencer Dina boasts more than 172,000 followers on TikTok — but the brunette has recently faced AI accusations.
'Lemme tell you guys I am not AI generated,' she insisted in a video shared online, saying she's simply 'very good at doing makeup.'
But a majority of the pedestrians The Post tested in the pop quiz thought Dina was designed by an AI tech whiz, citing her use of Photoshop and filters.
Several were stunned to learn she was indeed a real person. Sometimes, it seems truth really is stranger than fiction.
Answer: Real model
Image 2: Aitana Lopez
13 Aitana Lopez boasts 372,000 followers on Instagram, where fans fawn over her too-good-to-be-true beauty.
@fit_aitana/instagram
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Aitana Lopez, an AI model, is the brainchild of Spanish software developer Rubén Cruz.
Real companies pay the fake model to advertise their products online, and Cruz is now making up to $10,900 a month — thanks to his AI creation.
And while the items she promotes are authentic, it's assumed that a sizable share of Aitana's 372,000 Instagram followers don't know that she's simply a fictional character.
A majority of the people we stopped and tested in Times Square were also unable to tell that the beauty was a bot.
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'You're gonna make me look like an idiot out here today,' Robert Burck, the famous 'Naked Cowboy' quipped after guessting incorrectly.
Answer: AI Bot
Image 3: Ines Troccia
13 Italian model Ines Trocchia, 30, is pictured. Several social media skeptics believe she's AI.
@inestrocchia/instagram
13 'That's fake man, that's AI, that's AI,' David Gonzalez, 20, told The Post.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
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Italian model Ines Trocchia, 30, is another real-life beauty facing AI accusations due to her sizzling photographs.
'It's extremely frustrating that people think I'm an AI model,' Trocchia told outlets last year. 'It's complete insanity to me.'
Several people we stopped on the street were also convinced that Trocchia looked too good to be true.
'That's fake man, that's AI, that's AI,' David Gonzalez, 20, told The Post.
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The Queens local was stunned — and excited — when he learned Trocchia was indeed a real person.
'Oh my God,' he enthused, joking that Trocchia ought to give him a call. 'I'm Dom, I'm from New York if you wanna… you know what I mean.'
Answer: Real model
Image 4: Gessica
13 Gessica Kayane has close to 20 million followers on Instagram.
@gessica/instagram
The third real-life beauty in The Post's quiz was Brazilian influencer Gessica Kayane.
The brunette has an eye-popping 19.5 million followers on Instagram, but she still faces skeptics — including immigration officials from her own country.
Recently, Gessica revealed she was almost barred from re-entering Brazil because her dowdy passport photo didn't match her hot Instagram images.
Most of our poll participants were equally confused, believing Gessica was the creation of an AI expert.
Several pointed to the model's rippling abs in the image we showed as proof that she was't human.
But the influencer insists she's the real deal — aside from a few Photoshop touch-ups, of course.
Answer: Real model
Image 5: Milla Sofia
13 Milla Sofia is a 24-year-old social media influencer from Helsinki, Finland — but is she the real deal?
@AiModelMilla/X
13 Aaron J Christopher, 21, a self-proclaimed social media influencer, stopped for our test in Times Square.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
Milla Sofia is an AI bot — a fact that her creator doesn't try to hide.
Billed as a 24-year-old 'virtual girl' from Helsinki, Finland, the blonde-hair, blue-eyed bot has become a sensation on social media.
Her anonymous creator told the Independent that he's not trying to push unrealistic beauty standards.
'Social media influencers edit and airbrush their content all the time, and different filters are popular,' he explained.
However, the tech whiz may need to brush up on his skills, as everyone we quizzed was correctly able to identify Milla as AI.
Answer: AI Bot
Image 6: Mia Zelu
13 Mia's photos are so incredibly lifelike that she's managed to dupe even famous athletes into believing they're legitimate.
@miazelu/Instagram
13 Father and son Oscar and Carlos Simon put their skills to the test in Times Square.
Olga Ginzburg for N.Y. Post
With our vox pop quiz, we saved the hardest 'til last, testing tourists and locals as to whether or not they could tell if Mia Zelu (mentioned at the top of the article) is real or AI.
Mia's photos are so incredibly lifelike that she's managed to dupe even famous athletes into believing they're legitimate. Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant has liked many of her posts, leading fans to believe that he'd been'catfished'
'Rishabh Pant thinks he's interacting with a real girl, totally oblivious to the fact that it's an AI,' criticized one.
But it turns out Pant isn't alone. Almost all the pedestrians who partook in The Post's quiz believed she was a real model.
Big Apple resident Quinn Starner, 23, was one of the few who figured out that the beauty was a bot.
'She's beautiful,' Starner stated. 'But she's fake.'
Answer: AI Bot.
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