Artificial intelligence agents are increasingly being used by beauty pageant contestants for practical preparation tasks: conducting mock interviews, recommending workout plans, keeping contestants updated on current events, and suggesting dresses.
Samantha Smitte, 37, who worked at IBM for a decade, told Semafor she spent about $150 on AI agents to prepare for the Miss New York USA pageant scheduled for next week. The tools she uses run practice interviews with her, propose exercise routines, keep her informed about news, and recommend dresses — including styles similar to those worn by past winners.
However, she does not rely on AI for everything. Smitte said the AI "poise and style" coach she tried gave poor advice for onstage posing, so she opted to work with a human coach for that aspect.
Debate over AI's role
The place of AI in the pageant world has been contested. As an April Fools’ joke this year, the Miss America organization posted that it would use AI with contestants on stage, tasking them with solving real-world problems.
A separate event, a pageant of AI-generated women called "Miss AI," drew mixed reactions: some viewers praised it as celebrating diversity, while others argued it showed people were losing touch with reality.
Smitte said she can remain fully authentic while using AI and described the tools as her "collaborator and thought partner," but added, "I don't think we're ready to see the AI in front of the curtain yet."
Why this matters
These examples illustrate that AI can be both a practical aid for contestants seeking affordable, personalized preparation and a focal point for ethical and cultural debates about authenticity, diversity, and the limits of human versus machine involvement in performance-based competitions.
Report by Rachyl Jones
