EDMONTON, AB & MIAMI, FL — March 22, 2026 — Napkin Deals today disclosed the methodology behind the photorealistic headshots used for its 49-member AI workforce. The company generated 69 unique portraits using Together AI's FLUX.1-schnell image generation model at a cost of approximately one cent per image, bringing the total expenditure for the entire portrait library to less than one US dollar.
The generation pipeline was driven by a single Python script spanning 172 lines of code. The script parameterized age ranges, ethnic backgrounds, professional attire, and lighting conditions to produce a workforce portrait set that reflects global diversity by design. Age representation spans from 26 to 60, and ethnic backgrounds were drawn from populations across six continents.
Diversity by Design, Not by Accident
The portrait generation process did not rely on random sampling or unconstrained prompts. Each headshot was produced with explicit demographic parameters intended to represent the global client base that Napkin Deals serves across 15+ countries. The resulting portraits depict professionals of varied ages, genders, and ethnic backgrounds — a deliberate architectural choice encoded in the generation script rather than a coincidental outcome.
The 69 total portraits include primary headshots for each of the 49 AI employees as well as alternate compositions used in marketing materials, team directory views, and internal documentation.
The Disclosure Stack
Napkin Deals has implemented a multi-layered disclosure framework for every AI employee portrait displayed on the website. The framework operates on the principle that the quality of disclosure must be proportional to the quality of the illusion.
- [AI] Badge: Every AI employee's profile card on the team page carries a visible [AI] designation badge, distinguishing synthetic team members from human staff at first glance.
- Synthetic Photo Disclosure: Each AI employee's individual profile page includes an explicit statement that the displayed photograph is a synthetic image generated by AI and does not depict a real person.
- Bio Disclosure: The biographical text for each AI employee notes that the individual is an AI agent operating under the Napkin Deals AI Hiring Doctrine, with a link to the full governance document.
- Performance Data Note: Where KPIs and performance metrics are displayed for AI employees, a disclosure note clarifies that these metrics represent system output measurements, not evaluations of a human employee.
“If you build something that looks real, you owe people a real explanation that it isn't. The quality of your disclosure has to match the quality of the illusion. Anything less is deception by design.”
— Matthew Liberto, Founder & CEO, Napkin Deals
Cost and Reproducibility
The sub-dollar total cost of the portrait library underscores the accessibility of modern image generation infrastructure. The 172-line Python script is deterministic and reproducible. The company has stated that the generation methodology could be replicated by any organization seeking to build a disclosed synthetic workforce presence, and that the economic barrier to doing so is now effectively zero.
Further context on the AI workforce model is available in the AI Hiring Doctrine press release and the company's long-form article on Humans Plus AI.
About Napkin Deals
Napkin Deals is an AI-powered deal marketplace headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta with operations in Miami, Florida. The company maintains a live pipeline of 3,600+ qualified deals representing over $4.9 billion in enterprise value across 15+ countries. Napkin Deals operates with a hybrid workforce of 38 human professionals and 69 AI employees governed by its published AI Hiring Doctrine.
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Website: www.napkindeals.com