Monday Musings on The New Frontier of Fake
Happy Monday Ladies. It may sound strange, but I get a great sense of accomplishment from working my way through my ironing pile. I watched random YouTube videos, and generally zoned out. What I noticed, is that this pile had more colorful items than ever before and I’m not sure if I like it. I have no problem styling bright, colorful outfits in a try-on, but comitting to them long term is a different story.
As promised, here’s a snap of what I wore yesterday. I worked from home, did a ton of laundry, ironed for several hours, then we walked to a local restaurant for dinner. As you know, I usually wear neutrals so this shirt was a stretch for me. The waittress immediatly complimented me on it, and proceeded to tell me that she only wears neutrals, which I found rather funny.
She’s Not Real
I ran into a profile on Instagram a few weeks ago that stopped me mid-scroll. This woman, claiming to be 63, looked spectacular (more like 50) and was sharing her reinvention story. She’d survived a midlife divorce, conquered her low energy, lost weight, smoothed out her skin, and completely turned her life around by “making the right choices.” She even made a video with her daughter talking about the pure joy of being a grandmother.
It was warm, it was relatable, but the problem is, she isn’t real. She’s entirely AI-generated. The “daughter,” the “grandchildren,” the mid-life awakening…are all lies, likely cooked up by some 22-year-old tech bro who knows how to manipulate an algorithm. And of course, she was selling something.
The wildest part was I noticed several women I know were following her. Did they know she wasn’t real? I’m guessing not. Meta has stated that they require AI to be labeled, but they’re not enforcing the rule, so it’s becoming like the wild, wild west out there.
The first AI woman I spotted several months ago now has millions of followers. She’s styled to look like an impossibly perfect, fabulously wealthy older woman, dispensing pearls of wisdom like, “Darling, a woman doesn’t let anyone tell her how she should think.” And “Darling, a wise woman knows…” With over a few million followers, her bio is now selling a book!
You have to appreciate the absolute irony of a digital puppet telling real women how to think, all while selling a book on confidence. Buy the book, and you too can look and behave just like her! Except you can’t, because she’s made of pixels.
We’re being flooded with these AI personas engineered to prey on our confidence. They use deeply human psychological triggers because those are the exact stories that build instant trust. It bypasses our natural skepticism because we want to believe that kind of reinvention is possible.
But it’s a double-edged sword of deceit.
On one side, older women are being sold a load of absolute bull. We’re being told we can achieve a level of physical perfection that does not exist in nature. On the other side, younger women are being fed a terrifying narrative about aging. They’re being shown these hyper-glossy digital avatars as the only acceptable way to grow older, reinforcing the lie that wrinkles and life experience are things to be feared and erased.
It’s funny, but we used to worry about airbrushing in magazines. Now, the entire person is an illusion.
The technology has gotten so good that a video is no longer glitchy when a hand moves or a person walks so it’s getting harder to spot.
The beauty and wellness industries have always played on women’s insecurities to get us to spend money, but creating entire fake women to do it? That is a whole new level of low.
We like to think we’re smarter than that. And right now, maybe we are. But as this technology improves, and it will, rapidly…the line between real and AI is going to vanish completely.
Readers Questions
If you have questions of your own you can pop them in the comments or hit reply to the email of this post.
Q – Can you tell me what eyeliner you use?
A – This one is simple, I began using this Stila Waterproof Liquid Liner Pen. It’s like a felt-tip pen that I started using about 6 years ago and haven’t found a better one. I use Alloy, which is a soft gray, and I also have it in Intense Labradorite, which I use when I want a smokier eye. I’ve tried soft pencils more times than I can count, but no matter how soft they claim to be, they drag on the loose skin along my lashline. Here are a few other brands:
Q – Please help a silver haired /salt and pepper lady with brown eyes discover a shade of brown that works.
A – Color analysis is iffy at best in a virtual situation, and even in person, the accuracy of your results depends on the system they use and the competence of the person analyzing you. I would suggest you start by determining if you have a warm or cool undertone. Then you may find it helpful to discover your personal contrast level. Finally, try on many shades of brown, snap selfies, and study them to see which ones drain energy from your face and which ones make you look most vibrant.
Q – I have a question about slip shorts. I have a long summer dress that is thin fabric. I do not want my legs to show through when it’s sunny. Are slip shorts good for that, or do I wear a traditional half-slip?
A – Since slip shorts conform to your legs, the shape of your legs will show through the sheer dress fabric. I recommend a slip.
There are lots of great things still available at the Nsale and while I am not going to beat this sale to death, I wanted to share some new collections I’ve made.
Here are some great sweater jackets, which I find comfy and wearable in the fall. I refreshed and update this collection of Trench Coats and I ordered this one. I also added more wide-leg jeans to this collection, because we’re going to be seeing lots of them this fall.
Let’s chat about these AI profiles? Have you noticed them popping up in your feeds, your search results, or in advertisements? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Wow, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I see comments here and there like ‘this is AI’ and it always catches me off guard. But entire accounts and fake people. My goodness. It makes you question everything. Oof.
It’s the worst part of IG!
Terrific post! I’ve seen these feeds. Thank you for calling them out.
I don’t think I have seen any AI ads but who knows? It’s funny to hear the answers to questions you ask AI though.
I watched a woman showing off mothers then I noticed a copyright circle with an I in the center and next to it an AI. What does that mean? And why isn’t YouTube catching these if we can’t find them? I’m going to a YouTube meeting and I will ask.
Ler me know what you find out, Sandra! There are so many YouTube AI channels it must be impacting real creators.
WOW! AI can be quite difficult to differentiate from reality. I have not seen that particular “person” and I’m not interested. I’m a perfectionist but I know I will never be perfect. I’m human … very human.
Same here
I appreciate reading about your AI experience, along with the comments from your readers! It’s just so amazing that this is going on and the potential is so scary. For me, my experience was looking at these fabulous older women shown with their haircuts. I was so depressed until I realized I was not looking at reality, and I’ve noticed that some people are beginning to comment “bot” on the postings.
One other thing I’ll mention because I think it is funny, you mentioned doing laundry yesterday and the outfit you wore. I’m doing laundry today and I’m wearing a periwinkle blue gauze shirt from j crew factory and black cargo pants, which are not my typical colors either!
I always leave an AI comment hoping people will see it.
Unfortunately, I’ve pretty much stopped looking at Instagram unless I filter for my favorites. At least I know the children in the photos are my nieces and nephews, and they haven’t been altered … they really do grow up that quickly! Thanks for the reminder to be wary. (My wife almost entered some personal info into the wrong website the other day because she didn’t pay attention to the first link that popped up when she searched for a bank website.) Also, I find myself coming to blogs … reminder those old-fashioned ways of communicating? LOL! … because I trust these more than Instagram.
Oh those pop up’s are dangerous’ I’ve had to catch myself several times. I’m glad she spotted it early enough.
AI influencers telling us how to dress/think/behave are scary enough.
And what’s even more worrisome is the AI generated “news” that is infuencing people – especially considering that so many get their “news” from questionable online sources, not traditional media outlets. While one might think that a lot of this is coming from Russia, it turns out that American right-wing influencers are also using “fake” news on social media. Here in Canada, they are using AI social media to persuade Albertans that our country is broken (ummm…no, it’s not) and to vote for separation in the referendum this fall.
Great point! We have a lot of that in the US too.
I also enjoy ironing! I find it relaxing and get a real sense of accomplishment when done!
Now ..AI promoting sites for perfect older women. YIKES. I’ve not subscribed to any. The whole idea is just awful. I’m sticking to you and your posts!
I seriously hate Ai. I’ve already had a few experiences when I’ve called companies (apartment leasing, internet service) and went through a long conversation with the “Rep” only to find I had wasted my time with Ai. I needed help yesterday changing a reservation and these companies do NOT want to talk to you anymore. I love technology like my computer and it has many helpful uses, but I’m baffled by this need to have something artificial replacing humans. It’s all about saving money. I feel sorry for the younger generations; this is going to reach some kind of tipping point with them. Maybe they will adapt and aren’t concerned? Companies are shameless and greedy and people just don’t believe that they will go as far as possible to replace people. They will force it on to us, just like self checkout which has become the norm. No human if they can get away with it. Sorry, but that is my rant, LOL.
No need to apologize! It’s very frustrating.
I read this today and felt a sense of Déjà vu. I just had a conversation about the old time “truth in advertising “ concept. Guess that one disappeared first.
It’s not only the AI “people”, the influencers on the vlogs authoritatively state something and it becomes gospel. I’d say 90% of my feed is fake. Then there’s the discount that starts at 50% and after you’ve ignored the offer for a week, miraculously they can offer a subscription price with 90% off.
It boils me up !
AI worries me. It scares me. Social media isn’t the fun and helpful tool it used to be…at least not for me. Important topic, glad you brought it up. While I’m aware, I don’t feel I really understand AI and the implications, effects, etc.
That said….i love ironing and a freshly ironed white shirt? Bliss!
Thx for this post, Jennifer.
Thanks Linda
I work in a school and received a call today indicating we’ve had some “incidents” that needed reporting….I asked “am I speaking with a human?” The phone disconnected….the other person in the office thought it was a funny question….I thought it was a smart question.
It was a very smart question!
Great piece about AI generated posts. Can you give us some tips on how to spot them?
Thanks
They’re getting harder to spot. Enlarge the screen and watch the eyes in the video. They tend to jump a bit. Arms can be jerky. The best “tell” is by watching a few. The face changes ever so slightly. Of course, once you’ve watched that many, the algorithm will decide to send you more because it thinks you like the content. I block them after figuring it out.
Love your words on the ever burgeoning AI crap. Thank you, Jennifer!
More and more we have to be careful about our internet reading, and it’s quite dismaying to discover so much AI content. My regular “news” feed seems to have way too many human interest stories that are just some made up amalgam, or those fake product endorsements. But, these AI influencers are nothing if not cost-effective advertising, and are always on line and on brand.
Jennifer, you look great in the purple shirt ! That’s a keeper.
Jennifer I appreciate your post today because I spend more time trying to figure out what is AI and what’s real. It concerns me a lot and I am not opposed to technology at all. But how it’s being used is scary. Thanks for Sharing.
Jennnifer—every time you wear colour (raspberry, red, this strong lavender) it makes me smile because you look so alive, energized and pretty. Get used to it. Colour makes you younger and healthier-looking now, especially since your hair and complexion have changed.
And AI will never have that inner glow you have. If something is too perfect, it usually is too good to be true.
You’re right. If it appears perfect, it’s probably fake.