Joshua Garcia had already seen the AI-generated photo of him before it started trending.
At the Star Magic Spotlight press conference held on May 21 at the Dolphy Theater in ABS-CBN, the actor addressed the fabricated image circulating online, explaining that he first saw it while in the makeup chair, casually searching for memes of himself on X.
"Nag-search kasi ako sa [X] ng meme ko and then minemake-upan ako ni Ryan nu'n," he recalled.
His first reaction wasn’t panic. Instead, he showed his team and pointed out what was obvious.
"Tingnan niyo 'yung katawan ko rito. Payatot pa ako," he said.
When asked how he felt about it, Joshua acknowledged the reality of where things are headed.
"I don't know, man. Like sobrang dami nang AI sa internet. Hindi na siya ma-control. And I'm pretty sure hindi lang ako ang makaka-experience niyan sa napakaraming taon na dadaan," he said.
He was equally unbothered when asked if he panicked.
"Hindi naman. Kasi alam ko namang hindi ko katawan 'yun," he said.
He did joke, however, that he may need to post a photo of his actual body just to bury the fake one.
"Kailangan kong mag-post ng ganu'ng totoo talaga para matakluban 'yung fake AI body ko," he laughed.
Joshua is not the first local celebrity to deal with this. Anne Curtis and members of BINI are among the Kapamilya stars who have previously been targeted by AI-generated images.
These photos spread rapidly online and are often nearly impossible to scrub once they gain momentum.
The issue has become an increasingly urgent one across the Philippine entertainment industry and beyond.
At the same event, Joshua was also asked if he now feels at ease showing more skin on screen, particularly after his intimate scenes with Love Is Never Gone co-star Ivana Alawi.
He openly shared that he has never truly become comfortable with revealing more of himself on camera, regardless of how many times he’s had to do it.
"Actually, hindi ako comfortable at all doing love scenes. Like showing my body? Hindi ako comfortable sa camera," Joshua admitted.
"Du'n nanggaling ang pagiging aktor mo, oo. Not comfortable talaga. Showing your body? Ang hirap nu'n ah,” he added.
-By Paolo Lim