Social media influencers are using generative AI to create images of themselves with adorable, digitally added animals to gain clicks and engagement. This trend involves influencers posing with AI-generated creatures like puppies, rabbits, deer, and even horses, presented as if they are real companions.
Tools like Google AI's aistudio.google.com are being used, where users upload their photos and prompt the AI to add specific animals with desired characteristics. The trend has sparked a divided reaction online.
Many followers find the concept strange and criticize influencers for using AI animals instead of engaging with real animals in need, with suggestions to "go volunteer at an animal shelter." Others defend the trend, arguing that it's harmless entertainment and that people shouldn't be expected to engage with real animals if they don't want to. Beyond the aesthetic appeal, the proliferation of these realistic AI animal images raises concerns.
Researchers have warned that such anthropomorphic depictions can create unrealistic expectations about animal behavior and habitats, potentially leading people to approach or seek out real animals with misguided hopes of recreating these fabricated scenarios, which can pose dangers to both humans and animals.
