Take Vicky from France, for instance. She was recommended to me on X. Why, exactly? At first, I thought she might be a model. Maybe I could work with her sometime.
But as soon as I read "No DMs" in her bio, I knew she wasn't real. These fake people exist on OnlyFans too. But here, there isn't even a link to that. So I started wondering.
I don't understand any of it. What I do understand, however, is why these images get generated. The woman is beautiful. We enjoy looking at Vicky. We simply ignore the fact that she doesn't actually exist. We watched Asterix and Obelix as kids too, and they weren't real either (please don't correct me on this).
What works in Vicky's favor is that she has a gorgeous smile. And she smiles a lot. Actually, always. Her lifestyle is also very, let's say, polished. And that appeals to us somehow, doesn't it? Then there are her lovely short blonde hair. You don't see that in Germany. It's a bit more common in France, but even there it's very rare to see it look so pretty. Well, and to top it all off, besides her slim, athletic figure, she also has a large bust. Talk about hitting the jackpot!
Now it's not incredibly difficult to classify Vicky's photos as "not real." But it's getting harder and harder. The algorithms learn quickly, and what looks recognizably artificial today could appear deceptively real tomorrow.
For now, I'd rather keep photographing real people. Even if they don't smile as perfectly as Vicky from France, who doesn't actually exist.