• Michelin Guide Scandal: Prestigious Restaurant Guide Accused of Using AI to Write Reviews

  The prestigious Michelin Guide has found itself at the center of a controversy following an investigation by American magazine D Magazine. The publication alleges that artificial intelligence may have written most, if not all, of the new reviews of Dallas restaurants featured in the guide’s 2026 edition. Michelin has denied the allegations...

• He Spent His Entire Salary and Traveled 1,300 Miles to Meet His Dream Woman — Only to Discover She Was an AI Bot

  A 49-year-old Brazilian bricklayer, Edimar Rocha Martins, who was struggling to cope with his mother's death, embarked on a long journey to meet a woman he believed he had fallen in love with. But after more than 36 hours on a bus, he was left devastated: his dream woman was a virtual character created using artificial intelligence...

• AI Has Driven Researchers to Absurd Lengths: Some Have Started Smoking to Prove Their Faith in Artificial Intelligence

  People working in the artificial intelligence industry have reportedly taken up smoking to demonstrate just how strongly they believe AI will be able to save humanity from any threat — including the consequences of unhealthy habits. Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar described the phenomenon as “mass psychosis” and a “collective delusion.”..

• “AI Will Destroy Humanity”: Inside the Secretive World of Americans Preparing for the End of the World

  While some people dismiss talk of the end of the world as fantasy, others are spending thousands of dollars preparing for disaster. American “preppers” stockpile food, water, energy sources and everything else they might need in the event of hurricanes, pandemics, cyberattacks, economic collapse or even an artificial intelligence uprising, the New York Post reports...

• Napoleon’s Secret Revealed After 217 Years: AI Cracks the Emperor’s Mysterious Code

  More than 200 years later, a coded letter written during the Napoleonic Wars has finally been deciphered, according to the New York Post...

• Curvy Figure and Provocative Memes: Meta’s AI Mascot Unexpectedly Becomes the Object of Everyone’s Desire

  Muse is Meta’s new AI assistant, designed to perform everyday tasks on a user’s behalf, from sending emails to planning trips and much more. To make interacting with the technology feel more human and less impersonal, the company decided to give the assistant an adorable mascot resembling something between a Labubu toy and a squishy stress-relief dumpling...

• Tech Millionaires Are Building a City of the Future in Uruguay: AI, Neo-Gothic Architecture and $1 Billion for a New Utopia

  Thirty-year-old tech entrepreneur Dryden Brown and his investors are planning to build a futuristic city in Uruguay virtually from the ground up. The creators of Praxis promise to establish a utopian settlement where artificial intelligence will become one of the foundations of a new economy, culture and social life. The first residents are expected to move in as early as mid-2027...

• “ChatGPT Convinced Me I Was Jesus”: California Man Sues OpenAI After Suicide Attempt

  It is no secret that, in the relatively short history of AI chatbots, systems including ChatGPT have repeatedly found themselves at the center of stories in which users claimed the technology reinforced some of their most extreme beliefs. Now, another such case has resulted in a lawsuit against OpenAI, Vice reports...

Social media users were left confused after news broke that Mity, a member of the Chinese pop group Baby Queen, had announced her pregnancy and decided to take a temporary break from the band. Many fans only then discovered that the group and its members were entirely AI-generated, the Daily Mail reports.

The virtual singer announced her decision on social media, explaining that she wanted to take time off to rest and look after herself.

“I recently found out that I’m pregnant. After a lot of thought and discussions with the company and the other members, I’ve decided to step away from the group temporarily so I can focus on resting and taking care of myself,” her statement read.

Mity also apologized to the team preparing for the group’s comeback, stressing that she was not trying to shirk her responsibilities.

“This wasn’t an easy decision, especially for my colleagues and the staff who have been working together to prepare for our return. I’m truly sorry. Everyone has worked so hard, but the plans had to change because of me. I don’t take their efforts for granted,” the virtual performer wrote.

Behind the dramatic announcement, however, lies an unusual creative experiment. According to the Instagram account Artists Without Autotune, Baby Queen is a fictional group created by a small team of Chinese K-pop fans using artificial intelligence.

The account reported that the creators came up with Mity’s pregnancy storyline as a way to remove her from the group after finding it too difficult to maintain the online personas of four virtual performers at once.

The announcement was styled like an official statement from a real music agency, even though Mity is nothing more than a digital character.

Virtual Stars Are Earning Thousands of Dollars

Baby Queen is another example of how AI-generated personalities are becoming part of the entertainment and advertising industries in China, Japan and South Korea.

One example is Fang Taizi, a 20-year-old virtual character from the popular short-form series Laid-Off Girl, who appeared in an advertisement for contact lenses. According to the report, she was paid £25,000 per minute for her appearance in the commercial.

Another virtual character, Xiaohai, became the face of advertising campaigns in which he shared emotional stories about his difficult life and encouraged viewers to help him by purchasing the products being promoted.

But internet users soon began mocking the advertisements, portraying Xiaohai as a scammer. The backlash followed reports from Chinese police about elderly women who had tried to travel to his hometown to help him, apparently unaware that the character had been created using artificial intelligence.

Follow NEWS.am STYLE on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram