There used to be laws in place for someone's likeness being used without their consent, and most certainly if their likeness was being used in an exploitative way for profit.
But now with the rise of AI-generated photographs, advertisements, and other digital products, the lines seem to have become muddied between the illegal stealing of someone's likeness and AI "inspiration."
Model and TikToker @vanellimelli030 is one of the likely many victims of this practice since she found out that she now has an "AI twin" out in the universe.
The TikToker created a series of street fashion photographs back in 2023 with an excellent city, grunge, and slightly steampunk look.
Just days ago, a friend of hers sent her a video advertisement, and she discovered that instead of employing her for the duration of a photoshoot, or at least paying her for her photographs, a company had instead apparently run her photos through a system and created an AI-generated likeness of her.
The resemblance was uncanny, with very similar eyebrows, freckles on the face, the same characteristics of the nose and mouth, and a similar eye color.
The only real difference between the model and her AI twin was that the AI-generated person had short hair, which was the style the real-life model had ironically just had her hair cut and styled into.
In the caption of the video, the TikToker wrote:
"They say imitation is the highest form of flattery... but I don't feel flattered."
"This can't be the future and should not be normalized."
You can watch the video here:
Fellow TikTokers were enraged and hoped that the model would find a way to fight back.
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
@vanellimelli030/TikTok
TikToker @venellimelli030 has a point that the saying, "Imitation is the highest form of flattery," goes way back, but instead of feeling like flattery, this feels like exploitation and stolen property.
It's unclear what the TikToker can do about the company using her likeness without her consent, since she did submit her photographs of her own free will, but clearly, some new rules need to be put into place to protect people, artists, and other creatives from similar situations happening in which their hard work is fed into a machine.
@RandyRRQuaid/X
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social
