- Claudia receives compliments on almost all of her Reddit posts from strangers online.
- The supposed 19-year-old is an AI creation from two anonymous computer science students.
Reddit users are fawning over — and paying for — AI-generated photos of a fake woman named Claudia.
While most are showering the supposed dark-haired 19-year-old with compliments, others have pointed out that the fantasy woman is actually an AI creation.
F19 Feeling pretty today :)
by u/Cl4ud14_ in Faces
"For those who aren't aware I'm going to kill your fantasy. This is literally an AI creation, if you've worked with AI image models and making your own long enough, you can 10000% tell," one user commented under the selfie posted in the r/Faces subreddit.
The Reddit account responsible for the photo appears to post mainly adult content, including lewd photos, that prompts online strangers to interact. According to Rolling Stone, Claudia was created by two computer science students who have asked to remain anonymous.
They said the account was started as a joke after reading about a man who made $500 using photos of real women. They made about $100 selling AI-generated naked photos of Claudia before she was exposed for being AI, per the Rolling Stone report.
"You could say this whole account is just a test to see if you can fool people with AI pictures," the creators told Rolling Stone. "You could compare it to the (Virtual Youtubers), they create their own characters and play as an entirely different person. We honestly didn't think it would get this much traction."
Insider reached out to the Claudia account via Reddit, and did not immediately hear back. Claudia reportedly was made with Stable Diffusion using a prompt with words like "without makeup with black hair, shoulder length hair, simple background, straight hair, hair bangs," according to Rolling Stone.
Claudia's creation comes in the midst of a new era in the adult entertainment industry, comprising both supporters and protesters of AI-generated models. Unstable Diffusion, a group campaigning to legitimize AI-generated porn, raised nearly $60,000 on Kickstarter before being banned from the crowdfunding site.
As advancements in AI continue, photographers and artists have expressed concerns and called for more regulation. Deepfake porn has long drawn criticism for using a person's likeness to create adult content without their consent.
"I don't think laws have caught up with how harmful AI can be," photographer Presley Ann told Insider. "As things progress, it can even become an issue for people's livelihood."