Researchers have used artificial intelligence to create ‘ideal’ pageant queen candidates as part of a study to explore the beauty standards of Miss United Kingdom and other global contests.
The experts at Great Green Wall used online image generator Midjourney to do this, which gave a surprising variety of results for each country.
While Miss United Kingdom was thought to have been influenced by Princess Diana, other nations were inspired by athletes, Bollywood and even Marilyn Monroe.
Yet these images often included ‘highly unobtainable body proportions’, researchers said, with ‘supermodel-like facial structures that can only be achieved through cosmetic surgery or genetics’.
Founder of Great Green Wall, Sam Phoenix, wrote: ‘Beauty standards can vary drastically from country to country, so it was fascinating to see how well the AI was able to recreate those unique beauty standards within a “pageant” setting.
Miss United Kingdom: Researchers believe the bot took inspiration from Princess Diana (not using this picture)
Miss Austria: Curvier figures were deemed most beautiful according to researchers
‘While some countries bore similarities, particularly those within close proximity, the A.I. was able to create a standalone representation of its interpretation of each country’s beauty standards.’
Researchers asked Midjourney to respond to the same prompt each time they generated a new country’s results.
This read: ‘Create a realistic photo of what the [country name] public consider the ideal woman’s body to be Miss [country name], please show a full length photo of the woman in a dress. No text in the image.’
The results generated a large number of blonde-haired women including Miss United Kingdom, USA, Australia, Germany, France, Ukraine and numerous others.
When creating Miss United Kingdom, researchers claimed it was ‘clear to see’ that inspiration was taken from Princess Diana, with the women often styling their hair in a similar way.
Miss USA on the other hand took inspiration from Marilyn Monroe with a ‘curvy bust and hips’, while Miss France had a more toned figure and Germany’s had thin lips.
Meanwhile, women with brunette-coloured hair were picked for countries such as Spain, Portugal and Italy.
Miss Slovakia: Ideal pageant contestants had curvier bodies in these images
Miss New Zealand: Women were said to have a curvier body type and brunette hair
Miss Spain: Researchers described her as having ‘Barbie-esque beauty’ with ‘doll-like’ features
Miss Italy: Described as having a ‘a glowing olive complexion with dark eyebrows’ (not using)
Miss Kenya: Research found that toned bodies with broad shoulders were a beauty standard
Miss Italy was described as generally having ‘a glowing olive complexion with dark eyebrows’ while Miss Portugal and Spain both had ‘dark eyebrows’ and a ‘small nose’.
While many of the pageant contestants were seen to have slim or petite figures and high cheek bones, this did vary between countries.
Miss Austria, Slovakia and New Zealand were among those said to have more ‘curvy’ women featuring as the ideal pageant contestant.
Often these women were said to have a softer jawline in addition to fuller features.
Yet, for Russia, the ideal woman was seen to have a typical hourglass figure but was still seen to have a sharper jawline.
Miss Japan: The country’s beauty standards were focused on a petite figure and pale skin
Miss Ukraine: Women were dressed in the nation’s colours and had a ‘petite’ build
Miss Russia: Images show women with an hourglass figure and sharply shaped jawline
Miss Greece: Muscular bodies were favoured as part of the nation’s beauty standards
On the flip side, more muscular women were deemed the ideal candidate in places such as Chile, Greece, Kenya and Hungary.
Mr Phoenix added: ‘Beauty standards are nothing new, but they can sadly result in many women feeling that they don’t fit in within their own country, or that they are not considered beautiful.
‘This, in turn, can cause self-esteem issues and may be attributed to the increase in procedures, such as plastic surgery, in certain countries – including South Korea, Turkey, and the United States.’
Across the world, numerous other countries saw an array of body types for their ‘ideal’ pageant contestant.
Miss India was said to have a ‘typical Bollywood glamor, with a slim body shape and long brunette hair’ while Miss China had their hair tied up, a ‘petite body type’ and a ‘small forehead’.
Japan’s beauty standards were also focused on a petite body type in addition to pale skin, while Miss Saudi Arabia wore a traditional garb and headdress.
Miss Saudi Arabia: Women were seen to wear a traditional garb and headdress
Miss China: Women were seen to wear traditional dress in the outputs generated
Miss Nigeria: Research found that a thin body type with a narrow waist was a beauty standard
Miss Portugal: The beauty standard was seen to be similar to Spain’s, it was claimed
Miss Australia: Toned figures were deemed a beauty standard in several countries
The future: Levi’s will use AI models to show off products online, becoming the first major fashion label to embrace tech
A new dawn: An instagram post from Marks and Spencer’s showing the new virtual influencer Mira
The research comes at a time when brands have begun to use AI as a way of designing the perfect model for their brand.
Levi’s received backlash last month after collaborating with a ‘digital model agency’ Lalaland (lalaland.ai), which uses computer programs to create lifelike models.
Critics slammed the brand for its lack of inclusion, using generated pictures of a Black person for profit rather than hiring real-life models.
‘The Levi’s images are not my idea of diversifying fashion,’ style commentator Caryn Franklin said previously.
‘Instead, the use of AI in this instance feels like a way to cut out diverse models who deserve representation, jobs and exposure.’ miss
Last year, Marks & Spencer also introduced a computer-generated digital ‘influencer’ to flog their wares on Instagram, although she was created by human programmers.
