Ed Sheeran has unexpectedly become entangled in a contentious AI trend during his recent tour in Australia.

Various establishments, including a winery, gym, and hair salon, have created fake images of the 35-year-old singer as part of The Loop Tour’s stay in the country.

The AI-generated pictures depict a virtual Sheeran taking selfies and showcasing different business brand names.

One particular image features Sheeran seemingly shaking hands with a Melbourne grocer’s owner, which managed to deceive some Instagram followers.

“No way, that is awesome,” commented a user on a post by The Fresh Feast in Hawthorn.

Even Victorian MP Brad Rowswell joined the trend, sharing a doctored photo showing him with the AI version of Sheeran, the pop star’s arm casually draped around him.

Ed Sheeran has fallen victim to a controversial AI trend during his recent tour Down Under. Pictured: The pop star performing in the US last year

‘Fresh from three incredible performances at Marvel Stadium, has anyone else noticed that Ed Sheeran is popping up everywhere around Melbourne?’ Mr Rowswell joked.

He added: ‘Just to be clear – this is AI-generated…’

Another image, created by a Queensland hairdresser, shows the fake Ed in a Sunshine Coast salon, supposedly getting a haircut. 

The woman, Lisa, from The House of York Hair Design, told Yahoo: ‘I just jumped on the bandwagon for a bit of fun, but I secretly hoped he’d call in for a haircut on the way to Australia Zoo.’

‘I literally had family, clients, friends, etc., messaging me, calling me straight away once I’d posted it.

‘It’s actually incredible how accurate and how easy it was to create.’

According to the publication, an unnamed winery in Victoria also used an image of Ed online in which he can be seen browsing their offerings.

But the post was not seen as fun by followers.

Fake images of the 35-year-old pop star have been generated by a winery, a gym, and a hairdresser, among others, during his The Loop Tour of Australia. Pictured: Victorian MP Brad Rowswell faked this AI post in which ‘Ed’ can be seen posing with him

One post shows the singer shaking hands with the owner of a Melbourne grocer’s, which appeared to fool followers on Instagram. Pictured: The fake Ed ‘shakes hands’ with the owner of Hawthorn’s The Fresh Feast

Another image, created by a Queensland hairdresser, shows the fake Ed in a Sunshine Coast salon, supposedly getting a haircut

One person complained: ‘People manipulating fake pictures of Ed to try to promote their business should at least tag it as AI,’ while another added, ‘not a good look.’

The trend is based on exploiting genuine sightings of a visiting celebrity, with creators, usually locals, pretending that the star has ‘dropped by’ for a selfie. 

Online tech journal Futurism said that the trend has taken off since the arrival of Google’s video-generating tool AI Nano Banana Pro (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image) late last year.

Australia’s Department of Industry, Science and Resources released a statement about AI-generated content last year.

‘AI‑generated content is already common in business and marketing contexts, and its realism and reach has increased as the technology has advanced,’ it said.

‘Because of this, it can now be difficult to tell if content has been modified or generated by AI.

‘This can make it more difficult for people to trust the content they encounter. It can also make it easier for people to commit fraud and other malicious acts.’

‘[It] may help to create a point of difference with your competitors. It can also support your business to build a foundation of trust with your consumers,’ the government said.