How much is that AI puppy within the browser window?
Generative AI has been a fixture in recent social media trends, from the viral Studio Ghibli makeovers to turning people into their pets. Now, clout-seeking “hot girl” influencers are going viral after using Google AI so as to add cute animals to their photos like something out of a live-action Disney movie.
This fairy tale-esque phenomenon got here to light via a post by X user @jameygammon, who posted a pic of several content creators posting with AI-generated creatures from rabbits to puppies and even a large horse.
“Hot girls have began using AI trend I’m seeing; photo-surrealism with cute animals,” she declared within the caption to the clip, which has 15 million views online.
In reality, the web has been flooded with would-be Cinderellas posing with their machine-made menageries. One trend-hopper named Anna Wein, a Germany-based beauty and fashion influencer with 800,000 followers, posted a photograph of herself surrounded by “101” digitally-engineered Dalmatians.
“Just me, living my dream,” she gushed within the caption.
In one other, Spanish influencer Julia is seen posing in a doorway with a herd of baby deer à la Snow White.
Some have even posted tutorials of this virtual animal whisperer trend, which could be completed through quite a lot of online AI tools with the Google Gemini creator or the free-to-use aistudio.google.com rating amongst the most well-liked.
To make use of the latter, virtual animal-lovers need simply upload an image of themselves — full body is preferable so that they could be surrounded by their faux fur friends — after which give the AI a transparent prompt of what you would like, specifying color and species.
Example: “Add three realistic pictures of three golden labradoodles lying at my feet, with two sitting and one standing and wagging its tail.”
People had mixed feelings about these fauna-based deepfakes, with one X critic writing, “Why the f–k would you AI a horse into your hallway?”
“I can’t determine if that is cool or scary tbh,” said one other, while a 3rd scoffed, “just go volunteer at an animal shelter.”
Nevertheless, others flocked to the influencers’ defense. “Can’t really hate on pretty girls and puppies,” said one.
“They probably don’t wanna scoop up a bunch of s–t and truthfully I don’t blame them,” declared one other. “I’m not going to act morally superior in this manner. I don’t wanna try this either.”
While the trend seems awwww-inspiring — especially because the critters are clearly digitally-imposed — the proliferation of hyperrealistic animal-based deepfakes has change into an issue on social media.
Conservatives have railed against the ever-present AI-generated wildlife clips, notable examples of which include bizarre interspecies playdates between foxes and cats and rabbit trampoline sessions.
In a recent study published within the journal Conservation Biology, researchers claimed that these anthropomorphic clips portray “characteristics, behaviors, habitats, or relationships between species that are usually not real.”
This may encourage people to approach — and even illicitly purchase — said animals with the hopes of recreating an anthropomorphic scene, thereby posing a danger to each human and beast.
