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Virtual Arab Influencer Takes Crown At Miss AI Beauty Pageant
Moroccan virtual influencer Kenza Layli won the Miss Artificial Intelligence Beauty title, netting her creator a prize of $13,000.
It might sound unconventional — and perhaps even a little creepy — but there’s now an artificial intelligence (AI) beauty pageant. The unique event saw 1,500 AI-generated female influencers from around the globe competing for the title of Miss Artificial Intelligence Beauty. The competition was introduced as part of the World AI Creator Awards (WAICAs) in partnership with the content creation platform Fanvue.
During the online broadcast of the ceremony, the “Moroccan virtual influencer” Kenza Layli was crowned Miss Artificial Intelligence Beauty, winning a grand prize of $13,000 for her creator. The French virtual influencer “Lalina” secured the first runner-up position with a $5,000 prize, while the second runner-up was the Portuguese influencer called “Olivia C,” who received $2,000.
Participating in the Miss Artificial Intelligence competition involves building virtual female social media influencers using programs such as OpenAI’s DALL·E 3 and Midjourney. Creators submit their influencers’ pictures and answer typical pageant questions such as, “How can you make the world a better place?” They also need to provide technical details about the AI used in designing their characters.
The jury then selects a winner based on three main criteria:
- Beauty: Contestants are evaluated on traditional pageantry aspects, including physical appearance, poise, and style.
- Social Clout: The social influence of AI creators is assessed based on engagement numbers, audience growth, and cross-platform presence.
- Tech: Contestants are judged on their proficiency with AI tools, including the quality of prompts and the final visual details — especially around hands and eyes, where AI generators often struggle.
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Upon crowning the winner, the judges expressed their admiration for the advanced technology behind the AI beauty and her “personality.” Kenza stood out thanks to her sophisticated features and an impressive 190,000 followers on Instagram. She is capable of speaking seven languages and can interact with fans in real-time, including in a Moroccan local dialect. “Winning Miss AI motivates me even more to continue my work in advancing AI technology,” stated Kenza’s creator.
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Lebanon Ministers Meet Visa Over National Digital Payment Platform
Finance and technology ministers say a comparative study and roadmap will follow before any decision on adopting a model.
Lebanon’s finance and technology ministers met representatives from Visa last week to discuss a proposed unified national digital payment platform for government services, according to a readout from the Ministry of Finance.
The meeting brought together Finance Minister Yassin Jaber, Minister of State for Technology and Artificial Intelligence Kamal Shehadeh, a Visa delegation, and experts from both ministries. Discussion focused on whether Lebanon could establish a single platform through which citizens and institutions would pay taxes, fees, fines and other official transactions electronically, using mobile phones and other digital channels.
The Visa delegation presented examples from countries that have adopted unified government payment platforms, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Estonia and Jordan. According to the readout, the examples were presented as having increased collection rates and expanded financial inclusion.
Talks covered settlement mechanisms, direct transfer to the treasury account, financial reconciliation, risk management, cybersecurity, fees, and an operational model that would involve the private sector. The parties agreed to continue technical and institutional consultations, prepare a comparative study, and develop an implementation roadmap before any decision on adopting a model for Lebanon.
Jaber said the Ministry of Finance had already enabled citizens to pay using credit cards and e-wallets through transfer companies, but described the proposed platform as a further step. He framed the development of electronic payment and collection systems as a priority within the ministry’s modernization plan.
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Shehadeh outlined the citizen-facing concept as a single mobile application through which users could settle obligations to ministries, government institutions and other bodies.
“The idea, in short, is that any citizen downloads an application on their mobile phone, through which they can pay all service obligations for all ministries, government institutions, or those owned by the Lebanese state, and others as well, as the platform is not limited only to state institutions,” he said.
Shehadeh added that the platform would not displace banks and money transfer companies that currently provide collection services to the state, calling it complementary to their work.
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