'Magic' AI Avatars Are Already Losing Their Charm

Last week, after seeing artsy portraits popping up all over her social media feeds, Christal Luster signed up for a free trial of a photo-editing app called Lensa. She uploaded 10 of her headshots to it and paid $5.99 for 100 new images based on her inputs, which an artificial-intelligence tool produced in under an hour. Ms. Luster, an actress in Chicago, said the images opened her eyes to the types of characters she could portray. "There was one of them where I was like, 'Oh I could totally see myself playing in'Bridgerton.' I could learn to speak with a British accent. I could do period pieces," she said.