THERE’S a hype coming out on social media. We can no longer recognize our friends, relatives, and even ourselves. Everybody is going young, attractive, sophisticated, and perfect.
Artificial intelligence (AI)-driven images are getting attention, and almost everyone is into it.
Open your Facebook or Instagram account, and you’ll see a different version of your friend’s face.
For example, the Photo Lab app has become instantly famous, and everybody’s playing around with the different available images. Some would claim they look the same as the generated photos when they were young or when they changed their hairstyle. But do they, really?
It’s fun to play with pictures and post them so everybody sees what you look like if you belong to a different nationality, in your younger years, or in a different lifestyle.
Yes, it’s fun. But it looks like the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Let us take a closer look.
Sharing enhanced and filtered photos or your AI-generated images is like showing the world that you can have your other side. Well, it can boost self-confidence as you try to create a different you.
You are fostering a positive self-image. And the versions you see about yourself could inspire you to look better. You will probably pursue the needed diet or exercise you planned many months ago or the hairstyle you’ve been intending to have for many years.
You’ll probably apply more retinol, take collagen to reduce the appearance of your fine lines and wrinkles, or dye your hair for a beautiful you. It is always a great feeling to look young, fresh, and vibrant.
This way, we want to do more. We want to achieve more.
However, while it is time-saving to enhance your photos using AI apps, sometimes the automated editing is overprocessed. The photos look unnatural, and they lose the personal touch.
If we keep on using AI-generated photos and even use them as our profile pictures, will it not be a form of deceit, especially for those who have not seen us personally yet?
What if people get frustrated when they see you in person just because you are way different from those AI-generated pictures? Will you not get embarrassed?
Or do we need to change our motto to “to see is to believe”?
How about the other AI images that we see on the internet? If we cannot detect them as AI-generated, these images can have a great potential for fake news or propaganda. The images can be used to control our minds or manipulate public opinions.
The images become misleading because they do not accurately represent the real picture.
Everything becomes fake. What kind of world would the next generation have if everything becomes fake with the use of AI-generated images and videos?
Lucky are those who have lived in a time when AI wasn’t discovered yet. Everything is genuine.
Everything is natural.
More authenticity, less deception.