Submissions are evaluated based on their ‘genuine story’ and whether they possess the correct quantity of fingers.
Submissions are evaluated based on their ‘genuine story’ and whether they possess the correct quantity of fingers.
Initially, there was the AI beauty pageant. Next came the AI music competitions. Now, there is an award for AI Personality of the Year — perhaps an unavoidable evolution for the AI influencer sector as it transitions from whimsical novelty into a significant and profitable field.
The competition, a collaboration between the generative AI studio OpenArt and the AI-enhanced creator platform Fanvue, with support from AI voice firm ElevenLabs, begins on Monday and continues for a month. The organizers indicated it is meant to “honor the artistic talent ‘behind’ AI Influencers” and acknowledge their escalating cultural and commercial influence.
Participants will vie for a combined prize pool of $20,000, which will be divided among an overall champion and specific categories including fitness, lifestyle, comedy, music and dance performance, and imaginary cartoon, anime, or fantasy character. Winners will be honored at a May ceremony that the organizers are calling the “‘Oscars’ for AI personalities.”
To participate, you must create your AI influencer on OpenArt’s platform and submit it at www.AIpersonality.ai. You will need to provide social media profiles for TikTok, X, YouTube, and Instagram, along with the character’s backstory, your reasons for creating it, and details of any brand collaborations.
Among those who will judge the participants are 13-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Gil Rief, the creators of Spanish AI model Aitana Lopez, and Christopher “Topher” Townsend, the MAGA rapper behind AI-generated gospel singer Solomon Ray. A document of the judges’ briefing reviewed by The Verge states that participants will be rated on four criteria: quality, social influence, brand appeal, and the inspiration behind the avatar. Specific criteria include effectively engaging with followers, maintaining a consistent visual identity across social media platforms, accurate features such as possessing the “correct number of fingers and thumbs,” and having “a genuine story” associated with the avatar.
The contest welcomes both established creators and newcomers, although existing AI influencers will still be required to submit works created on OpenArt’s platform, as stated by Matt Jones, Fanvue’s brand head, to The Verge.
Even though the initiative is designed to recognize the creators of virtual influencers, Jones mentioned that participants do not have to disclose their identities. “If someone responsible for creating this exceptional work prefers to avoid the media or keep their name private, that’s perfectly acceptable,” he noted. “There is no necessity to force anyone into the spotlight here. We would only celebrate the work itself.”
The option for creators to remain confidential seems contradictory for a competition assessing authenticity, particularly within an AI influencer landscape populated by fictional figures, artificial identities, and invented narratives. This same anonymity has likewise enabled scams to prosper unchecked, ranging from the AI white nationalist rapper Danny Bones to MAGA fantasy girl Jessica Foster.
There are also ongoing concerns about originality, whether AI-generated works or even likenesses have been appropriated from actual creators, and whether these tools merely replicate existing biases in synthetic formats. Fanvue has already faced backlash regarding this issue: in 2024, a Guardian columnist characterized its “Miss AI” beauty contest as an endeavor that “takes all toxic gendered beauty standards and bundles them into an utterly unrealistic package.”
To Jones of Fanvue, creators inevitably imbue a fragment of themselves into the AI personas they design. “You can’t prevent yourself from incorporating a piece of yourself into the narratives you spin and the characters you craft,” he advised creators to “embrace that.” This notion resonates within the influencer marketplace: not entirely genuine, yet a form of synthetic authenticity the internet has already become accustomed to.
