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The AI conversation pageant girls need to have
I wanted to talk about AI this week because it has been popping up again in the pageant space, most recently around AI-generated pageant headshots.
And, as expected, people have opinions.
Some of those opinions are thoughtful. Some are not. But what worries me is that much of the conversation seems to stop at the most obvious, surface-level question: Are AI pageant headshots good or bad?
That is a valid question. But it is also a very narrow one.
Because the bigger issue is not whether one contestant should or should not use an AI-generated headshot. The bigger issue is whether pageant girls are actually learning how to use AI intelligently, or whether they are dismissing it before they understand it.
And that, I think, is a much more important conversation.
You are probably already using AI
One of the strange things about the AI debate is that many people talk about AI as though it is some completely separate, futuristic, morally suspicious thing that only exists inside ChatGPT.
But if you use GPS, you are using AI. If your phone unlocks with your face, you are using AI. If you use FaceTune, skin smoothing, Instagram filters, background removal, auto captions, or many of the tools already sitting inside your phone, you are using some version of AI.
So the question is not really whether pageant girls should use AI.
The better question is:
How can pageant girls use AI well?
That distinction matters, because “AI bad” is not a serious strategy. Neither is “AI good.” Both are lazy positions. The real skill is learning what the tool is good for, what it is not good for, where the ethical lines are, and how to use it in a way that actually improves the quality of what you are doing.
The headshot debate is not as simple as people want it to be
For the record, I do not think AI-generated headshots should be used for photogenic awards. If contestants are being judged on a headshot, and the headshot is not actually a real photo of them, then I think that creates an obvious fairness issue.
But this is where the conversation gets more complicated.
If the argument is that AI headshots are bad because they are “not real,” then we need to be honest about how much of pageantry already involves altering appearance.
Heavily edited photos are not exactly “real” either. Neither is FaceTune. Neither is aggressive Photoshop. Neither is contouring that changes the structure of someone’s face. Neither are certain cosmetic procedures.
That does not mean all of those things are the same. They are not. But it does mean the conversation requires more nuance than pretending there is a clean line between “real” and “fake.”
In pageantry, as in most of life, the line is often messier than people want to admit.
The real risk is refusing to learn
My concern is not that every contestant needs to start using AI for everything. Please do not use AI to turn yourself into a generic pageant robot. We already have enough of those.
My concern is that a lot of smart, capable, ambitious young women are going to leave an incredibly powerful tool on the table because they have decided, often without much experience, that AI is bad.
And I think that is a mistake.
AI is going to affect almost every industry. Business. Marketing. Media. Medicine. Law. Education. Coaching. Content creation. Your platform. Your career. Your future business.
Whatever direction you go in, you are going to be competing with people who know how to use AI. And the danger is not that they will “cheat.” The danger is that they will move faster, create better, learn quicker, communicate more effectively, and build things that you still think are impossible.
That is why I think the real risk is not using AI badly.
The real risk is refusing to learn it.
Using AI well is still a skill
One of the laziest criticisms of AI is that using it is lazy.
And yes, it can be.
But that is true of almost any tool. A contestant can use AI badly. A business owner can use AI badly. A coach can use AI badly. A creator can use AI to churn out generic rubbish that no one asked for.
But using AI well is different.
You still need taste. You still need judgment. You still need to know what good looks like. You still need to know what you are trying to say, who you are trying to serve, and what kind of output is actually useful.
AI does not magically make someone excellent.
It magnifies what is already there.
That is why someone with real skill who learns how to use AI properly is going to become very difficult to compete with. Not because the AI replaces their ability, but because it allows them to extend it.
Why this matters beyond pageants
Pageantry is not separate from the real world. The same skills that help you succeed in pageantry often help you succeed in life: communication, confidence, leadership, personal branding, storytelling, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and the ability to learn quickly.
AI can help with a lot of that.
Not by replacing your personality. Not by writing fake answers for you. Not by giving you some soulless script to memorize. But by helping you practice better, organize your thoughts, sharpen your message, develop your platform, build your story bank, and get feedback when you would otherwise be sitting alone in your own head.
That is the opportunity here.
The point is not to become dependent on AI.
The point is to become more capable because you know how to use the tools available to you.
Free resource: interact with my pageant book
In the video, I show you how to use NotebookLM to interact with my pageant book.
Instead of reading the entire book from start to finish, you can ask questions and get answers based on the material inside it. For example, you could ask what I say about pageant interview, stage presence, onstage question, psychology, mindset, or the biggest mistakes contestants make.
This is completely free to use.
The book itself is not free, but I am giving you access to the NotebookLM version so you can explore the ideas in a more interactive way.
Link:
👉 https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/ee31985c-2814-435f-9eb5-3d1c5a02afa7
Final thought
You do not need to agree with every use of AI. I certainly do not.
But please do not make the mistake of refusing to learn it.
The contestants, coaches, creators, business owners, and leaders who learn how to use this properly are going to have an enormous advantage. Not because AI makes them good, but because they are already good, and AI helps them move faster.
So watch the video, try the free NotebookLM resource, and ask yourself honestly:
Where am I dismissing AI because I do not understand it yet?
Adrian.
Paid subscriber bonus: onstage question practice prompt
For paid subscribers, I have also included a copy-and-paste AI prompt you can use to practice onstage questions.
This is not a generic “ask me pageant questions” prompt. It is designed to act more like an onstage question coach. It will ask difficult questions, keep you within the kind of pressure you would feel onstage, and help you if you get stuck.
Fair warning: it is hard.
Get it here:
👉 https://www.thepageantproject.com/p/paid-subscriber-bonus-onstage-question
The Beginner’s Guide to Pageantry - Everything You Need to Compete in Your First Pageant With Confidence... Even If You’re Starting From Zero:
