Sydney Sweeney attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg ... [+]
A viral clip of Sydney Sweeney awkwardly responding to an AI-generated image of herself sparked laughter online, as the actress appears unimpressed.
What Happened With Sydney Sweeney’s AI-Generated Portrait?
During Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked tech conference in Paris, attendee Sydney Sweeney was called upon by one of the hosts, during a display of the company's announcement of AI-generated avatars via Samsung’s new "portrait studio."
After drawing the audience’s attention to Sweeney, the host told the Euphoria star that the company had “used your portrait to generate a 3D image,” before unveiling a blurry caricature of a generic blonde woman which did not look like Sweeney.
The host then asked Sweeney, “What do you think?”
“Awww,” Sweeney replied, in the tone of a birthday girl opening a disappointing gift from an earnest, misguided boyfriend. “I love it,” she said, flatly.
Rather charitably, Sweeney added: “It’s amazing you can take an image like this.”
“You look absolutely amazing,” the ever-enthusiastic host replied; it was unclear if she was referring to the glossy image that did not resemble Sweeney, or Sweeney herself.
How Did The Internet React To Sydney Sweeney?
The clip quickly went viral on social media, with commentators pointing out that Sweeney appeared visibly uncomfortable.
On X (Twitter), one commentator described the clip as “truly one of the most uncomfortable things I've ever seen.”
Another compared Sweeney’s awkward moment to Dua Lipa’s uncomfortable smile after she was subjected to a ukulele song from a budding musician, with Dua’s reaction becoming a meme.
One commentator even compared Sweeney’s forced smile to an infamous clip of Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon; the two went viral after desperately attempting to convince their audience that NFTs of cartoon apes were cool, exciting and valuable.
Sweeney’s reaction appears to summarize the collective response to the proliferation of lifeless, uncanny and bizarre AI-generated images that have been steadily polluting the web.
Facebook has fast become a digital graveyard of eerie AI-generated images that have grown increasingly detached from reality.
Surreal AI-generated images with strange mutations are arguably the most interesting output of generative AI — the problem with Sydney Sweeney’s portrait is that it was bland and lifeless.
A skilled caricaturist could easily create a striking, recognizable image of Sweeney invoking distinctive aspects of her face and personality, but the AI-generated portrait falls flat because of the lack of intent and perspective—Sweeney just wasn’t in there.
A portrait without a human touch, created by nobody; even an actress struggled to appear impressed.
