In 2024, a contest was created to promote the most beautiful women the world has ever seen.  The competition is the brainchild of the World AI Creators Awards (WAICAS).  As the name suggests, real women need not apply, as all contestants are AI-generated personalities admired for their pixelated perfection. 

We - Christopher & Heather - were curious, so we discussed where this idea would push already unrealistic standards and ideals set for beauty that women have been burdened to meet or at least keep up with in exchange for social status, attention, or affection. 

To justify some of the skepticism about these AI-generated beauty contestants only being boy toy fantasies, contestants are being judged based on three criteria: aesthetic beauty, the technical skill that went into creating them, and their online and business clout. In some cases, that includes contestants with over 250,000 followers on Instagram and employment earnings in the neighbourhood of up to $10,840 a month, or on average $3,252 monthly, working as virtual models for clothing and jewelry companies. 

Virtual or not, the impact of AI models is real, but will the standards these models set around "what is beauty and who is beautiful," which are already unrealistic and unattainable for most real women, become even more exhausting?