A stunning Miss England semi–finalist has been revealed, but there's a huge catch – she is AI–generated. The Miss England pageant has launched a brand new AI round, featuring computer–generated beauty queens. Glamorous contestants can now walk down a virtual catwalk by making digital twin avatars of themselves as part of the Black Mirror–style qualifying round. Organisers believe they are the first beauty pageant in the world to introduce a digital AI round which will help'reflect the world' the young women are stepping into. The contest has already axed its bikini swimwear round in a bid to move away from outdated pageant stereotypes and replaced it was a CPR round teaching life–saving skills.

New workplace technologies often start life as both status symbols and productivity aids. The first car phones and PowerPoint presentations closed deals and also signalled their users' clout. Some partners at EY, the accounting giant formerly known as Ernst & Young, are now testing a new workplace gimmick for the era of artificial intelligence. They spice up client presentations or routine emails with synthetic talking head-style video clips starring virtual body doubles of themselves made with AI software--a corporate spin on a technology commonly known as deepfakes. The firm's exploration of the technology, provided by UK startup Synthesia, comes as the pandemic has quashed more traditional ways to cement business relationships.