An AI image engine has generated an impression of what the 'most beautiful faces in the world' look like.
Whether it's theme parks, people, cities, or anything that we might think of, AI is being asked to visualise certain qualities. The latest one, it's safe to say, should be taken with not so much a pinch as a wheelbarrow of salt.
This is because the latest images generated by an AI platform are about beauty, something which is extremely subjective and changeable and also culturally charged. Beauty might seem lovely, but has in fact been weaponised in many ways throughout history.
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So with that caveat in mind, what exactly did the AI generator come up with for a visualisation of the 'most beautiful face in the world'?
Well, if you've ever read a beauty magazine, watched a movie or TV show, seen a modelling show, or been on social media, probably pretty much exactly what you would expect.
It's worth remembering that AI is not generating these images autonomously. It's not some great oracle that we can go to and say 'O mighty AI, tell us what beauty truly is!'.
What is happening is that the programme is drawing on banks and banks of data and finding images which are commonly associated with the idea of 'beauty'.
So, in a society which associates beauty with being feminine for example, the image appears more feminine. A society which, consciously or subconsciously, associates the idea of 'whiteness' with beauty might also produce a face which appears Caucasian.
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A society in which youth is prized over age as a beautiful quality is likely to put out very young or youthful-looking faces.
So, the AI is not making something new. If anything, it's holding up a mirror.
In this case, the engine has generated four images. All of them are of women, all are white, and all look very young. All have long flowing hair, though one has it tied up, they have manicured eyebrows, the same large lips.
Contrary to the idea of beauty as something subjective, culturally determined, and changeable is also a highly prescriptive 'objective' idea of beauty. Sounds pretty unconvincing to me but all the same we can take a look.
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This is an analytical idea of beauty which is based primarily on facial patterns and ratios. So a more symmetrical face, for example, would be more highly-ranked.
The AI images certainly seem to adhere to those principles as well.
Featured Image Credit: MidjourneyTopics: News, World News, Technology