Meet Ava Rose. She’s a 28-year-old influencer who lives in London. Ava is a “sustainable tech queen” who works for U.K.-based Mahindra Formula E Racing. On social media she discusses “tech wonders, the future, racing and all things econerdy,” as she shares life hacks with her followers such as “Embracing the power of sleep – A good night’s rest is not just a luxury; it’s a vital recharge for mind, body and soul.”
It’s sound advice.
Unfortunately, Ava has no first-hand experience with sleep, nor with being alive nor with the dread of death. Ava Rose is a creation of artificial intelligence. Apparently, the folks at Mahindra asked an AI what (predominantly male) racing fans want in a racing influencer and came up with Ava Rose, an “Artificial Intelligence Ambassador.” She’s the kind of woman who sweeps you off your feet, right before she rips her face off to reveal her circuitry and drives her robot claw through your chest.
After Ava was unveiled on Instagram, condemnation was swift. When it comes to promoting women in sport, motor racing puts the “lips” in “lip service.” The irony of a company in a male-dominated sport that races in a series with no female drivers electing to use AI rather than hire a real live human woman was lost on no one.
Among the 1,094 Ava-induced Instagram comments are:
- “Motorsports companies will do anything but hire actual women.”
- “Wonder if there was a woman in the room when this idea was pitched.”
- “This is so incredibly insulting to all the amazingly talented women in motorsport. Massive L.”
- “Was it that hard to hire a woman for this? So many talented people could fill this position but nah … AI is the ways smh.”
- “This is a massive step back for women in motorsport. What a slap in the face for human women that you’d rather make one up than work with us. Insanity.”
All true, there is no earthly reason to create an AI shill to promote racing. Mahindra quickly agreed. By Thursday morning, Ava was no more, all traces of her scrubbed from social media, her epitaph a post on X from Mahindra chief executive officer Frederic Bertrand, “Nurturing diversity, inclusion and innovation is at the heart of Mahindra Racing. Our AI influencer programme was designed with this in mind. Your comments hold tremendous value. We have listened, understood and decided to discontinue the project.”
But let’s pump the brakes for a moment. One can understand why Mahindra was tempted by AI.
Human beings work for money. Depending on their popularity, influencers work for everything from free pizza and trips to millions of dollars. AI influencers like Ava Rose, in contrast, work for free. They are slaves you don’t even have to feed. Why stop at attractive female AI influencers?
This got me thinking, what would an AI-generated me look like?
Curious to see what the algorithm could do, I told ChatGPT: “Create a male automotive journalist humour column writer who lives in Toronto.”
The reply was: “Introducing Jake Wheeler, a witty male automotive journalist based in Toronto. With a keen eye for humour and a love for cars, Jake’s column, “Wheeler’s Wit Behind the Wheel,” takes readers on a laughter-filled ride through the quirks of the automotive world. Living in Toronto, Jake infuses his articles with a unique Canadian flair while delivering clever insights and entertaining anecdotes.”
It sounded promising. I told ChatGTP: “Create a funny story about driving.”
“Once, in a tiny town, a novice driver named Bob decided to take his new self-driving car for a spin. To his surprise, the car had a quirky sense of humour. It started cracking jokes about traffic, claiming to have a ‘PhD in parallel parking,’ and even played a spontaneous game of ‘Guess the Horn Sound’ with other cars on the road. Bob’s commute became the talk of the town, as people eagerly awaited the next episode of ‘Bob and the Comedic Car Chronicles.’
Okay, so, AI is not perfect. There are some bugs to be worked out. It’s interesting to note that in this comedy duo, ChatGTP gave the car all the laughs and relegated Bob to straight man.
We should not be surprised. AI can’t humorously describe what it’s like to be frustrated by traffic, because it can’t get frustrated. People are influenced by influencers because they connect with their humanity. Nobody wants to get advice from an AI influencer like Ava Rose.
Only a human being could be flawed enough to believe they would.
Next week in Road Sage: “Guess the Horn Sound.”