Dove South Africa, in partnership with VML, has developed a tool to address the issue of unrealistic beauty standards amplified by generative AI, which often reflects biased, Western-centric ideals and excludes diverse representations, especially from the Global South. This initiative aims to promote inclusivity and redefine beauty standards in the digital age.
• Challenge of AI bias in beauty: Generative AI models tend to reproduce biased beauty standards based on their training data, often marginalizing women from Africa and the Global South by generating predominantly Western-centric images of beauty. Users also find it difficult to create inclusive images due to the challenge of crafting precise prompts for AI tools.
• Innovative platform and campaign: Dove and VML created the Real Beauty Generation microsite using Adobe Firefly’s beta API, allowing users to generate and rate images of women with diverse features such as acne scars and wrinkles. The campaign extended to radio, social media, and influencers to encourage users to “teach AI to see you.”
• Chrome extension for inclusive image generation: The latest advancement is a free Chrome extension that integrates with any AI image generator, helping users create prompts for inclusive, “perfectly imperfect” images. The extension features dropdown menus guiding users beyond traditional beauty ideals, converting their descriptions into effective AI prompts for more representative results.
