‘Sexy' Wimbledon influencer catfishes famous sports star

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3 days ago

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She's too good to be true.
After threatening to replace humans in seemingly every sector from law to academia, artificial intelligence is now going after our influencer gigs as well.
Meet Mia Zelu, an AI-powered social media star who has amassed over 150,000 Instagram followers by sharing sexy pics of herself at various tennis events and elsewhere.
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In a recent Insta post, the hyperrealistic blonde bombshell is seen sitting courtside at the All England Club during Wimbledon drinking Pimm's, a drink that's associated with the tournament.
'Still not over the event … but the party's a whole other game,' Zelu, who bills herself as a 'digital storyteller' captioned the pic.
'Which Wimbledon match was your fave?'
Mia Zelu poses in the stands at a tennis match. She's amassed over 150,000 Instagram followers by sharing stunning snaps. Picture: Instagram/@miazelu
Another showed the tennis influencer — whose creator is unclear — in the stands during a match.
Her photos aren't the only things that are super naturalistic — Zelu also 'uploads' surprisingly heartfelt and human-seeming messages as well.
'You know what's exhausting? Pretending you're okay while you're slowly burning out,' the fictitious content creator declared in one post alongside a pic of her rocking jean shorts at a cafe.
'Smiling in messages, staying 'productive', answering 'all good!' while everything feels off.'
She added: 'We've all done it. Some of us are still doing it. Because being honest feels risky. 'Because we don't want to seem weak or dramatic. Because it's just easier.'
Zelu even has a 'sister' named Ana, who's a brunette and has amassed 266,000 followers on the platform by posting similarly glamorous snaps.
Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant was active on Zelu's social account. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Despite the fact that Zelu discloses that she's 'AI' in her Insta profile, thousands of admirers liked her post and even posted fawning replies such as 'you look stunning' and 'will you marry me'.
Some even inquired about her 'skin care routine', although it's yet unclear how many of these replies were posted in jest.
However, some hawk-eyed viewers noticed that Indian cricket star Rishabh Pant had liked many of her posts, leading them to believe that he'd been 'catfished'.
'Rishabh Pant thinks he's interacting with a real girl, totally oblivious to the fact that it's an AI,' criticised one, while another scoffed, 'Someone should probably tell Rishabh Pant that this is an AI account …'
Zelu is one of many AI influencers on the market. Picture: Instagram/@miazelu
Coincidentally, Pant's likes of Velu's posts are no longer visible on Instagram and he has yet to weigh in on the backlash, the Daily Mail reported.
Zelu is one of a growing roster of AI-influencers flooding the market.
Last year, virtual influencer Alba Renai went viral after getting hired as the first non-human host on a weekly special segment of 'Survivor' in Spain.
While the trend might seem harmless, there are plenty of dangers to the proliferation of AI doppelgangers — beyond just leaving a certain cricketer with a red face.
Last year, a UK woman who fell for a 'US army colonel' she met on Tinder discovered later that he was a romance scammer after he swindled her out of over $20,000 by deploying hyperrealistic AI videos.
This story first appeared in the New York Post and was republished with permission.
Originally published as 'Sexy' Wimbledon influencer catfishes famous sports star