Guide · Choosing a tool
Real licensed models vs synthetic AI models
Every AI imagery tool can now put a human-looking figure in your product photos. The question your legal team will ask is different: who is that, and where is their release?
The one-sentence difference
Synthetic virtual models are invented faces — nobody’s, and therefore nobody can consent to them. AI imagery of a real licensed model is a photograph-grade render of an actual person who signed, approves each image, and is paid. Generation is a commodity; the right to use the image is the product.
Side by side
| Synthetic virtual models | Real licensed models | |
|---|---|---|
| Who is in the image | A statistical blend — no identifiable person | A real, signed model with a canonical reference kit |
| Model release | Impossible — there is no one to sign | Exists for every image: signed, scoped, paid |
| Likeness-law exposure | A generated face can accidentally resemble a real person, with no paper trail to disprove it | Identity is contracted; approval is recorded per image |
| AI disclosure (EU, from Aug 2026) | “AI-generated; this person doesn’t exist” | “AI-produced, featuring our contracted model, approved and paid” |
| Face consistency across a campaign | Varies by tool; the face isn’t anchored to anyone | Anchored to the model’s reference kit, frame after frame |
| Exclusivity | Not meaningful — anyone can generate a similar face | Sellable per category and duration, like real casting |
| Who gets paid | No one whose features trained the face | The model, per use, automatically |
When synthetic is fine — and when it isn’t
For a solo reseller listing thrifted pieces, a synthetic figure on a packshot is usually fine — nobody is reading the campaign as a brand statement, and the legal surface is small. The math changes the moment a brand with a reputation runs the image: commercial use of a face traditionally requires a release; regulators from New York to Brussels are codifying scoped, paid consent; and platforms increasingly auto-label AI content, putting your disclosure in front of every customer. At that point the question isn’t whether AI imagery is cheaper — it’s which kind your legal team can sign off and your customers can trust.
What Mirai is
Mirai is an AI modelling agency: brands shoot campaigns with AI clones of real, signed models. Every image is approved by the model, licensed with explicit scope, and the model is paid per use. Licensed downloads carry signed C2PA Content Credentials with a public verification page.