Did the A.I. Met Gala Looks Fool You?

Katy Perry's mom was even tricked!

The Met Gala has gone through so many changes since its inception. Plum Sykes, contributing editor to vogue, recently reminisced about a Met Gala from the 90s. She said Anna Wintour casually tasked her with “filling a table.” We know that Anna doesn’t roll like that these days. She is very methodical about the guest list and quick to cross someone out or move them to the outskirts of the party. I recently heard model Amber Valletta on The Run-Through With Vogue podcast say that back in early days of the gala — Anna would just have the models come through the Vogue offices and dress them for the event. It wasn’t the show-stopping, frenzied, red carpet production that it is today.

Amber Valletta, 1999 Photo: Getty Images

I was working from home when the first Met Gala -“Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” - notification dropped (I get notifications from E! News - sue me.) JLo, one of the hosts of the event, had hit the carpet. I scurried over to instagram and tossed the hashtag #MetGala2024 into the search engine. JLo was rocking her signature messy bun and a gorgeous Schiaparelli dress. The very next image was of her co-host Zendeya wearing Maison Margiela Artisanal by John Galliano.

I scrolled a bit more and saw several very arresting images. Lady Gaga in this unbelievable, gravity defying, architectural gown.

Rihanna looking fresh as a goddamn daisy in this incredible vine gown with a coat overlay that created a halo of vines that climbed a good two plus feet over her head.

And Katy Perry looking luscious in massive gown adorned with beautiful flowers and moss detailing.

Something about the Katy Perry picture gave me pause. I started looking at the time stamps on the posts. They were posted hours before the event started….omg these photos are A.I. generated. THIS FELT NEW AND SHOCKING. Not only were these creations realistic, but they were also deeply on theme — and better than a lot of the actual human offerings!

How good is this artificial intelligence version of Beyonce? Ps. Why wasn’t she at the event? She was missed, tbh.