Fists clenched, nipples mirrored like identical twins — their bodies are practically carbon copies. You could call them “boyfriend twins” or, if you’re feeling cheeky, “doppelbangers.”
Or maybe it’s just AI. Because the next time you see an ad for your favorite gay club or bathhouse, that perfect pair might not even be real.
I recently spotted this kind of questionable couple on Instagram, posted by Body Zone, the longstanding Detroit bathhouse. I ran a screenshot through Sight Engine and other detection websites, the closest AI verification we have, according to CNET and Popular Science. It flagged the pic as 99% AI. (QBurgh cannot authoritatively say this is AI, and Body Zone did not respond to request for comment).
Body Zone isn’t the only one dabbling in “AI-generated” queer content — intentionally or not. Plenty of small businesses rely on stock photo sites for their visuals, which, not-so-coincidentally, are stuffed with AI fantasies of shirtless, smoldering dudes. Campit Outdoor Resort in Saugatuck posted a glorified grandpa holding what one commenter called a “big old bowl of AI slop” to promote holiday events at their campgrounds. Beef Dip, the name of the themed week where gay Bears gather in Puerto Vallarta, posted an idealized daddy as Poseidon. Dads Of Love, a popular Chicago day-time party, repeatedly posts swirling, fantasy-like graphics that are seemingly AI. Even the new season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” generated comments accusing the creators of using an AI-generated image. The image featured RuPaul in a sparkling night-sky, about to trapeze over buildings. Notably, the post was deleted from the show’s official page.
Distinguishing AI-generated images from real ones can be challenging, as I discovered. Popular Science advises the use of online-detectors, such as NoteGPT, warning human-detection is slumping. In the article, David Nield wrote, “We may be past the point of six fingers on hands.” However, the online-detectors suggested by Popular Science have issues with 100% authentication of AI, according to The Global Investigative Journalism Network. They created a guide for distinguishing human versus AI-generated work, remarking on online-verification failures. Their suggestions range from gut-reactions, to five-minute visual analysis, to deep detection that involves forensics and physics.
Scientific investigations of potentially fake hot bodies behind me, I took a deep dive into how AI has become an uneasy bedfellow for queer people and their community spaces. What harm is there with AI generated images of sexy gay men, beyond potentially upsetting some audience members? Plenty, as it turns out. First, the use of AI images can make people skeptical about the event being promoted. Ethical concerns also arise, particularly regarding how AI-generated art devalues the work of queer artists and designers.
Before I dove into Instagram and Reddit comments, interviewed a professor of internet culture and discussed the design behind event promotion with a prominent DJ in the scene, I needed concrete experience in AI image generation. I offered this prompt to ChatGPT: “Make me a poster for a gay party in Chicago. Lots of hairy men.” It created a packed image of white leathermen. I asked it to “make it more diverse.” It added a single Black man. Then I prompted: “make it more gender diverse.” It added a few women. Blandness and stereotypes resulted, even with my evolving prompts.
I’m not the only one who has something to say about AI promotion in gay spaces. Instagram user @chrismascima commented on a post from Dads of Love about their flyer: “Love the concept,” he commented, “but the AI artwork not so much. So many talented gay designers who would love to design for this.” On the original Dads of Love post, the tell-tale signs of AI are there — one of the men had seven fingers. While Dads of Love did not respond to requests for comment, Chris Mascima reflected on his Dads of Love comment when asked by Pride Source: “I have a lot to say about that, especially since my company hosts queer art markets,” he wrote, “and we design all the graphics and support queer artists and makers.”
The stereotypes AI draws upon in generating images, coupled with audience skepticism — from daytime party imagery to references to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” — reflect broader patterns within the LGBTQ+ internet. First we need to understand what makes queer promotion actually work. “Artistic intention plays a big role in online event promotion these days, and creativity and uniqueness really matter,” commented Oliver Haimson, a University of Michigan associate professor in the School of Information and an expert on LGBTQ+ social encounters. “An exciting and artistic flyer that a person clearly puts effort into designing is likely going to be much more successful for event promotion than, say, a generic image that features the trans flag or rainbow flag colors.”
The use of AI, however, showcases a lack of diversity and an over-simplification of the event: “When you ask an AI system to create a queer or trans visual, it tends to return a bland image that overly features things like the rainbow flag or the trans symbol — that very few people in the community actually use,” he said.
“AI systems are also fundamentally built on classifying things into categories, and nonbinary people resist being placed into categories,” he added. My own foray into image generation showcased that very lack of gender diversity.
Still, in the face of AI’s stereotypical categorizations, diversity issues, skewed facts and ever-growing power, there are queer artists working against AI’s troubling image classifications. I reached out to Harry Cross, a prominent queer community DJ and party promoter who uses real-life experience and an experimental nature to create artworks for his events: He is the counterpoint to image-generators. His inspired art that he creates for The Dunes Resort in Saugatuck unambiguously emphasizes the diverse queer community of the region. For the Loose Ends weekend at the resort every year, Cross creates new illustrations, drawing queer characters based on real people he’s met there, and others who have competed in the pageant. One of my “friends got in trouble for getting his ass eaten in the pool,” Cross said in an interview with Pride Source. He included that moment in a poster the following year.
When it comes to what Cross sees online for event promotion, Cross said he’s “just biased” against AI. “If you take the time to get an artist to make [a flyer], or you make it yourself, it reflects that you’re going to also put care into the sound system and the lineup of DJs and show your party was planned out,” he said. If you’re going after “a quick fix” with something AI generated, Cross said, then “you’re just doing it to make money.”
AI versus custom art in promotions is a tale of two diverging paths. If you just need something to get the word out, you could generate it. But if you’re seeking seductive translations of dynamic, diverse queer events, hire an artist. Speculation aside, remember: that hairy Poseidon isn’t at Beef Dip’s pool parties, and no daddy in Chicago actually has seven fingers.