The Met Gala 2024, held on May 6th, was a spectacle of fashion and creativity. The theme, “Sleeping Beauties: The Garden of Time,” inspired the attendees to don stunning outfits. However, what truly caught our attention was the unexpected twist. Despite not being physically present, certain celebrities became the focus of the event. The internet, armed with AI and creative photoshopping, took it upon themselves to envision how stars like Katy Perry, Selena Gomez, and Rihanna would have looked in this year’s theme. Katy Perry was at the centre of the drama, despite not attending the event, posted her AI images on her personal Instagram. This intriguing use of AI in the fashion world sparked a new wave of creativity and discussion.
Related article: 10 Best Looks From The Met Gala 2024
The Katy Perry Drama
The first dress circulated was of Katy Perry, which garnered over 288,000 likes and around 9 million views. She was imagined in a floral gown with a moss trim that perfectly encapsulated the night’s theme. A second image with a different attire also circulated. This time, she donned a corset gown with a key breastplate, a trail of vines and a wet hair look. This collected 94,000 likes and 2 million views. Perry herself liked both of the posts. However, what is truly astonishing and intriguing is that netizens were genuinely convinced that it was really her at the event. Perry also posted that her mom texted her after being fooled by the AI images, highlighting the surprising success of this technology in fooling the public.
Rihanna and Selena Join In or Did They?
Rihanna, too, was brought to the Met Gala without her physical presence. The fashion mogul and singer-songwriter skipped the night’s events, but the internet gave us the dress we were craving. Despite the style not being up to Rihanna’s usual standards, it was a gorgeous mermaid gown with embroidery details that stunned netizens. Similarly, Selena Gomez was reimagined wearing a butterfly-themed gown with blue, green and purple colours. However, this begs the question of how far will the internet go as we have seen malicious usage of AI deepfakes. As it was their choice not to attend the Met Gala, it seems disingenuous to create a fake image of them.
Wanna know more about the Met Gala? Read here: Fashion Explained – The Met Gala
While the Met Gala deepfakes are considered more creative, they serve as a stark warning of the dangers and the path AI is taking. The accuracy beats the uncanny valley effect that most people would be put off by and immediately recognise the images as fake. Distinguishing what’s real from what’s fake should be a certainty for every netizen, a part of media literacy as a whole, but with the way AI is progressing, more misinformation can circulate. AI has been used incorrectly for political advantage. Such as former American President Donald Trump using AI to be photographed with African-American voters. It raises serious concerns about the pace and accuracy of AI and how netizens will cope with this change. Will misinformation spread, or will the internet find ways to discern what’s fake?