We may have told you this before, but on social networks, and especially on Instagram, people generally tend to make us believe that they have a perfect life. However, to have a nice photo on the beach, or in a nice apartment, people have to be there physically in order to take this nice photo (which we can possibly edit) and accumulate likes and reactions.
The story of Kyle Vorbach, a producer who created a perfect fake life for a month, is different. Instead of taking real photos to trick his friends on social media into thinking he has a dream life, he used artificial intelligence. Indeed, today, some AIs are so powerful that they are able to generate ultra-realistic images, without the user needing to take their camera.
It all started with a profile picture
In the video he posted on YouTube (at the end of the article), Kyle Vorbach says that it all started in October with a profile picture. Using AI Stable Diffusion, which generates photorealistic images from a text description provided by the user, Vorbach had already generated some beautiful images of his dog, wearing hats. And when he wanted to have a new profile picture for social networks, he decided to use the same technique.
To generate his images with the AI, he used photos of himself, and associated his request with actor Ryan Gosling. Indeed, including celebrities in the process would lead to better results. And the least we can say is that thanks to this technique, Kyle Vorbach was able to obtain his perfect profile photo. “Hands down one of the best photos I’ve ever taken, and I’ve never even had to leave my room”he says in the video.
my avatar is easily the best picture I’ve taken in years pic.twitter.com/S5XKTGXtQQ
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) October 28, 2022
Satisfied with the image he obtained, Kyle Vorbach did not stop there. He continued to post picture-perfect AI-generated images of himself on social media. This allowed him, for example, to have a fake photo with a Halloween costume, or to make people believe that he was on a trip to New York, where he would have met a friend (a friend generated by artificial intelligence , by the way).
enjoying, for once in my life, a couple days of not staring at a computer screen pic.twitter.com/8IXPSZvgOp
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) November 10, 2022
Perfect pictures, perfect life!
Despite the realism of the images he posted on Instagram, Kyle Vorbach saw that he had fewer and fewer likes on the social network. His images were certainly perfect, but they seemed boring. And that’s when he decided to invent a new life for himself.
photographic proof I am finally back in LA!! (just for a bit) pic.twitter.com/VMDTHBRYEs
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) December 1, 2022
“If I’m already generating my images, why not generate a whole new life. A life where I returned to Los Angeles, a life where I lived in a very nice apartment, and my dog too. A life where I could afford a very nice car. A life where my career finally takes off. A life where I might even meet a random celebrity. A better life”says the producer.
so happy to finally be out making stuff again. this next video is going to blow your mind!! pic.twitter.com/LwQXZ2GHOZ
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) December 4, 2022
been an INSANE few days but I’m loving this new place 🙌 (Coco is too) pic.twitter.com/wmJt7pyjnK
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) December 6, 2022
*slaps roof* you can fit so many car payments in this baby pic.twitter.com/kkCFI3b5lP
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) December 8, 2022
And his friends and family believed it. But after a month, Vorbach finally decided to reveal everything to his loved ones (and made a video of it). Why ? First of all, creating this fake life on social networks was not an easy task. The producer says it took a lot of work, sorting through thousands of images, day and night.
But it also evokes the psychological impact of this experience. Every time he got a like, he felt “endorphins” like those likes were really for him. “Like someone I know liked a picture of me. In the end, I didn’t know where I stopped, and where the Ryan Gosling person began (ed., the perfect version of him generated by artificial intelligence)”he explains.
Broke 10k views in one day!! Feeling GREAT about that considering the video is 10 minutes long! 😬😬 pic.twitter.com/nafU11YFqI
— Kyle, the Tweet Poster (@kylevorbach) December 13, 2022
In any case, this experiment demonstrates that the technologies currently available already make it possible to deceive everyone, for those who want to display a perfect life on Instagram (or become the king of mythos). On the other hand, as Kyle Vorbach explained, it requires a lot of work.
