Why AI filters can take a toll on our self-esteem

Remember the good old days when filters were cute bunny ears, sparkly sunglasses or a wagging tongue? Since Artificial Intelligence (AI) has moved into the mainstream, social media companies (TikTok in particular) are upping their filter games big time.

Welcome to the new frontier of AI filters – where the lines between reality and digital imagination are becoming so blurred, it is sometimes hard to believe your own eyes.

What is an AI filter?

AI filters use artificial intelligence to analyze shapes, colours and details to transform them into something new. Many of the AI filters causing viral crazes on TikTok right now are video filters.

While the filters are meant for fun and creativity for the most part, people are concerned about how some of them can impact self-esteem and further intensify the pressure of unrealistic beauty standards and expectations.

When AI filters are fun

Many of the viral TikTok crazes inspired by AI filters can be fun! Some recent ones that took social media by storm include:

• Your future babies: using the AI Baby Generator filter, you can generate a realistic image of your future baby. You can either combine features with your current partner, a favourite celebrity or friend. The possibilities (and laughs) are endless.
• A look into the future: using Tik Tok’s Aged AI filter, you can see what you would like as you get older. With more than nine million videos on TikTok, the “aged” craze gained a lot of traction in 2023. AI takes your existing facial features and then predicts what you will look like in your elder years – including wrinkles, crow’s feet and grey hair.

When AI filters cause real concern

There are a whole host of concerns with AI filters. First is privacy. Experimenting with these filters requires you to use pictures or video of your face. Where are images stored? Are they being used for more than our own entertainment? There are also concerns that bad actors may use filters to appear as someone they are not to deceive or scam people. As AI filters become increasingly sophisticated and realistic, they are also taking an even greater toll on our self-esteem. Bold Glamour, an AI filter launched in February 2023, is a prime example.

Before Bold Glamour, most face filters put a digital layer over your face. It was easy to tell it was a filter because if you moved, the quality of the filter degraded. Not the case with Bold Glamour. Using advanced AI and machine learning, the filter reimagines your face, and you can move or wave your hand over your filtered face without any glitches. Within a month of its release, Bold Glamour was viewed 400 million times on TikTok. The platform was inundated with “model” versions of users, which while intriguing, was also a cause for concern.

Renee Engeln, Director of the Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University called out the concern, “that blurring of the line between reality and fiction is something that can have a lasting effect on your sense of self.”

In the wake of Bold Glamour’s release, many TikTokkers took to the platform to debunk the beauty standard the filter was promoting, with one user noting, “your natural self is the best self.”

Reality vs. filtered fantasy

Social media adds to the complexities of growing up. And the increasing popularity of AI filters, like Bold Glamour, doesn’t help. It’s important to have ongoing conversations with the kids in your life about AI and how it makes filters more seemingly real and powerful. But reality is very different from filtered fantasy. It’s important to help kids develop critical thinking skills to know the difference. Try filters out with them. Show them the difference. Ask questions about how the experience made them feel. Share your own feelings as well (the world of social media impacts us as adults too). By experimenting together and creating a space for honest dialogue, you can help to minimize any potential negative impacts to their mental health or self-esteem.