As a glamour photographer, I want to address a real threat to the the body-positive movement —AI generated social media influencers.
But, there is a solution, and it begins with each and every woman and a social media account.
Just like human influencers, the computer generated creations show off glamorous lifestyles, and flaunt flawless, unrealistic bodies. In a nutshell, It’s a new level of unattainable level of beauty.
While these AI influencers might be entertaining, they have the power to do real harm to self-esteem, especially with teens and young women.
For instance a Spanish modeling agency recently created Aitana Lopez, who already makes $11,000 as an influencer! I mean, Aitana doesn’t even have pores. Her body is missing key anatomical lines.
In some images, they forgot to put in a few ribs. Yet, she still looks real, and there is no indication she is a bot on her Instagram profile.
Her Instagram feed shows her posing in outfits from large brands such as Guess, Brandy Melville, and Victoria’s Secret and tagging haircare brand Olaplex.
It wasn’t that long ago that Victoria Secret was celebrated for featuring real bodies in their marketing.
A less realistic Lil Miquela, is a 19-year-old model, influencer, and singer and has accumulated a whopping 2.7 million followers on Instagram since she was created in 2016.
“She” has worked with major brands including Calvin Klein and Samsung.
At least the instagram profile identifies her non-human status as a “19-year-old Robot living in LA”
As AI advances, we will likely see more of these robot influencers, and the beauty standards women are faced with will be up to these content creators.
In our boudoir studio, we see the negative impacts of social media everyday. Women, bombarded with beauty standards on social media, initially believe they could never look gorgeous in photographs.
Potential clients are quick to say they need to lose or gain weight, and/or are too old. Too many women apologize for not being photogenic.
However, boudoir has been shown to unlearn some of these limiting beliefs. In fact, studies have shown that a boudoir session can improve self-esteem and promote a more positive body image.
The run-of-the-mill human influencers are already a tough pill to swallow for many women, with crazy filters and staged content.
Research consistently supports the influence of social media on women’s mental health. It is no surprise that limiting social media use reduces feelings of depression and isolation, according to a study published in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology.
What’s the Solution to AI Influencers Impact on Body Image?
The answer to undoing the negative influence of influencers (both human and bots) is actually simple.
Women need to take back the narrative!
It’s not the technology to blame; it’s the people behind it. And, those companies answer to you, the consumers of the content.
Aitana was created by the model agency Clueless, with the unapologetic reason to maximize their profits, and avoid the unpredictable nature of human influencers.
We need to work harder to love real bodies, real faces. Let’s show the modeling agencies and large brands we demand real women in our content.
We want real faces!
Embrace pores! Find beauty in a soft belly. Laugh lines can be gorgeous.
How? Share authentic pictures. Do the boudoir shoot! Share your experience. Talk with other women.
Share, share, share!
It sounds like a cliche, but changing the world begins with ourselves. Be kinder to your reflection in the mirror.
Once you realize you are more beautiful than a bot, the robots will deflate back to the money-hungry homes of their creators.
– Olga, owner of Studio Newport
