--- title: "Popular Instagram “Photographer” Admits His “Portraits” Are Generated by AI" description: "A viral Instagram photographer has a huge secret: most of the people whose faces grace his work don't exist and were made by AI." date: "2023-02-22" modified: "2023-02-22" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/instagram-photographer-portraits-generated-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai art" - "image generator" - "midjourney" - "the digest" --- # Popular Instagram “Photographer” Admits His “Portraits” Are Generated by AI ![A viral Instagram photographer has a huge secret: most of the people whose faces grace his work don't exist and were made by AI.]() *\Image: Jos Avery via Instagram / Futurism\* ## Coming Clean A viral Instagram photographer has a huge secret: most of the people whose faces grace his work don't exist, and were instead generated by artificial intelligence in what he says was meant to be a social experiment. As [*Ars Technica* reports](), artist Jos Avery decided to reveal his use of AI image generation after he began racking up IG followers, with his follower count swelling to the tens of thousands in the few months since he launched his project. "Probably 95%+ of the followers don't realize" that the black and white portraits, which often feature soft expressions and high contrast, are "AI-generated \[and\] human-finished," Avery told the website in an email, noting that two of the portraits do feature real people while not revealing *which* two he meant. The artist told *Ars* that he initially creates his subjects using the powerful Midjourney image-generating software, which is known for its gorgeous, photorealistic "portraits" that can, as the website notes, [trick unskilled viewers]() into thinking they're the real thing. He then retouches the images using Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. ![]() ## True Believer Avery said he was initially a skeptic of AI art, but that he created his Instagram account in October 2022 after becoming a convert and deciding to see if people would notice that the "people" in his photographs weren't real people at all. "I am honestly conflicted," the artist told *Ars* when he first approached the site in January. "My original aim was to fool people to showcase AI and then write an article about it. But now it has become an artistic outlet. My views have changed." Avery was soon taken aback by how personally people took his work, and initially rationalized his AI non-disclosure by reminding himself of how heavily manipulated the photos and videos seen in film, television, and in magazines are. "It seems 'right' to disclose \[AI-generated art\] many ways — more honest, perhaps," the artist told the website. "However, do people who wear makeup in photos disclose that? What about cosmetic surgery? Every commercial fashion photograph has a heavy dose of Photoshopping, including celebrity body replacement on the covers of magazines." Eventually, however, Avery decided he would "like to come clean" — and he doesn't know what that will mean for his artistic future. "Frankly," Avery told *Ars*, "I'm not entirely sure how to proceed." **More on AI art:** [*This Entire Sci-Fi Magazine Generated With AI Is Blowing Our Puny Human Minds*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()