Woman Discovers Models Featured In Magazine Article Are AI — ‘Photo Credit Is An AI Prompt’
Andrea Piacquadio |Pexels With a background in photography and the curiosity of an avid media consumer, Cassandra Klepac on TikTok dared to read the fine print of a magazine touting itself as a beauty authority. What she found was images of models in an article about cosmetic procedures that were created by AI.
Beauty magazines market concepts of perfection. It was already hard enough to live up to society's unrealistic beauty standards, but what happens when those standards are challenged by much more than just FaceTune and Photoshop? What happens when those standards are set by AI-generated models?
A woman discovered that the models featured in a magazine article were AI-generated.
Klepac picked up a magazine at the airport, something we've all done when traveling, but what she saw buried in the pages startled her. As a photographer, she was struck by the beauty of the photos in a spread specifically about cosmetic procedures. She wanted to see who took the images, and when she looked very closely, she learned that they were simply credited to an AI prompt.
Small in font, the magazine barely revealed the truth. Rather than making readers aware that these are artificial images of smooth-skinned women with "filler," creating "elegant proportion[s]" under headings in association with the "art of correction," the photo credits were hidden near the stapled center and turned 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Klepac noted, "And this isn’t a fashion ad, it’s deeper than that. It’s your face, your body, your choices being illustrated by something that isn’t even real. These are articles about beauty and health procedures." What benefit could that possibly have for women who are already comparing themselves to the nipped-and-tucked perfection of models and celebrities?
AI images as a beauty standard promote plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures as answers to visual perfection.
These magazine companies are only a portion of the problem. A Reddit user commenting on Klepac's video noted, "Pictures and videos anywhere on social media, YouTube, television, advertisement, etc. Even if it's not specifically in a beauty magazine, you are exposed to unrealistic images of people daily, which affects people's expectations of what people look like."
It conditions people to see only one perspective, with the psychological intention to sell what people think they want. This slippery slope of tunnel vision motivates a person to meet the beauty standards they're told to achieve. Comparing yourself to these "perfect" photos prompts a desire to change how you look. Believing you have all the power is what they want you to think, but it's just manipulation.
In an essay about end times resulting from AI cultural dependence, journalist and AI historian Stephen Witt wrote, "A dominant position in A.I. might be, without exaggeration, the biggest prize in the history of capitalism." The greed of institutions, like hospitals and media sources, treats people as dollar signs with little to no concern for what it might do to the consumer's mental health.
Pixel-Shot | Shutterstock
From a creative standpoint, using AI as a photographer goes beyond filters and editing.
The artist is being replaced, and that's reason enough to be infuriated. Where is the true outrage, though? Why is it okay to lash out at celebrities who tweak their social media images, but this somehow gets a pass? When a Kardashian posts a selfie, eagle-eyed critics are out for blood, looking for wavy lines and distorted appendages. Public opinion will shout about perpetuating unrealistic beauty standards, but AI images slowly making us question what's truly real seems to be applauded or at least accepted.
"This is about removing real people from stories that are about them," Klepac stressed. These generated images stretch the separation between humans, perfection, and society's unattainable desire to reach the standards in place. It has to be up to us, real people, to preserve our stories.
AI manufactures a story that it's never lived. We experience what they are fed and more. As Klepac noted, "This woman has never looked in the mirror. I have." As one Redditor sagely noted, "What gets me about this TikTok is that even a woman who photographs real women for a living still finds herself feeling 'less than' next to an AI-generated face. And I don’t blame her. Women have been buried under impossible beauty standards forever."
As we enter into this new world of technological advancement, it's important to remember that two truths can exist at once: AI can benefit us, and AI reliance can eliminate the autonomy that makes us all beautiful in our own right.
Emi Magaña is a writer from Los Angeles with a bachelor's in English. She covers entertainment, news, and the real human experience.
