Dove promises it will never use AI images in advertisements

Beauty brand Dove has hit back at AI-generated images in a new advertisement, which ends with a pledge always to use real people. The soap brand has always championed real beauty and has led the way in showcasing women of all ages and sizes.

The latest video shows a woman entering prompts to an AI generator, such as “the most beautiful woman in the world.” Predictably, the results show a blond-haired, blue-eyed Caucasian woman barely out of her teens.

The video then goes on to show what happens if the prompt is extended with the words Dove real beauty, and the results show a much wider variety of AI-generated results, with women of all skin colours, ages, hair textures, and sizes.

AI bias

The juxtaposition between the prompts is impactful and highlights the issue of biases in generative AI generators. Unilever (who owns Dove) has also allegedly created guidelines around AI use and what it deems appropriate.

Reports on the impact of social media, particularly Instagram, on teens’ mental health and body image also show how important this topic is. A constant barrage of unhealthy and largely unattainable standards of beauty ideals is well documented in having a severe negative effect.

Of course, this can impact people of all ages and genders, but teenage girls and young women seem particularly affected. Some have developed eating disorders or taken their own lives as a result.

Age or beauty?

Just this year, Dove reported that 1 in 3 women in the US would give up a year of their life to achieve their beauty goals. That’s pretty staggering when you think about it. I imagine that at the end of our lives, we would probably all prefer to have more time with our loved ones in good health than to look wrinkle-free and thin.

It’s a strong stance to take, particularly when 90% of all online content is predicted to be AI-generated by 2025. But perhaps it’s also an important one, for people to be able to confidently distinguish between what is real and what isn’t.

[via media post]

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