Can an AI-generated profile photo help you land a job?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the emerging trend for making internet profile photographs, replacing filters and Photoshop.
During the summer, a TikTok video became viral. “Using this trend to get a new LinkedIn headshot,” it said.
In the video, a young woman demonstrates both her natural appearance and the professional-looking headshot images she made with an AI-powered program called Remini. The video has since been seen 52.3 million times, and a slew of similar ones from other TikTokers have also received a lot of attention.
Remini and rivals like Try It On AI and AI Suit Up employ AI-based technologies to produce sleek profile photographs that appear to have been taken by a professional photographer.
Remini requires you to publish eight to ten selfies, preferably from diverse angles and in decent lighting. The AI analyses those images to learn about your appearance.
Then, within a few minutes, it will begin making fake images of you looking extremely clever and even attractive, with your hair in various styles or positions, and you wearing different outfits while sitting in optimal lighting.
It also enhances your make-up and offers you flawless skin. You also get a variety of backgrounds. Furthermore, some users claim that it makes them appear slimmer.
The effects are somewhat subjective — some feel they are realistic, while others say they appear fake.
However, unlike other online picture alteration trends, such as radically altering your hair or eye color, this one is mostly centered on LinkedIn and other job search services.
Some people are drawn to AI services because they are inexpensive.
While AI headshots “are obviously generated,” says Divya Shishodia, 24, an Australian internet marketer, “some people might not have the budget to go and get a professional headshot taken.”
While seeing a professional photographer might cost more than £100, Remini and other suppliers will usually provide free samples that last a few days.
“I’m not saying they’re the most realistic, but for the amount of time and effort you have to put in… the output is worth it,” said Shishodia. She says that attempting to shoot a nice profile photo oneself might be really tough.
“You need angles, lighting, and you’re attempting to avoid shadows… Only professional photographers can accomplish it.”
Michelle Genobisa, 26, from Aalborg, Denmark, is excited about the cheap to no cost of AI-produced profile photographs.
“I quite often change my looks, like my hair color… so it was an easy way to collect some pictures with the effect of a professional photoshoot,” she said. “To get that kind of photo taken, professionally, it’s very expensive.”
Others, like Molly McCrann, a 25-year-old Australian actor, are less thrilled by the technology. “I just think it looks so fake, you can tell that it looks heavily edited, or it looks like AI,” she said.
“When I posted mine it made me look so skinny, and I don’t look like that.”
Ms McCrann adds that she believes it is usually best to show prospective employers your genuine appearance.
She is, nonetheless, willing to consider the other viewpoint. “Someone made a comment that I actually agree with — if this company is going to be judged solely on appearance, I want to be in the room.” And if this gets me in the door, I’m going to utilize AI headshots to obtain the interview.”
But what about the possible influence of AI-enhanced photos on our self-esteem? According to consumer psychologist Dr. Paul Marsden, there are two sides to the story.
“On one hand it could allow us to put our best self forward, and the image of ourselves that we want to project to the world, and in turn motivate us to be that way inclined in real life,” he says in an interview with the BBC.
“The psychology of first impressions is how we make snap decisions based on first impressions, and by using AI, people can potentially be considered for an opportunity.” On the other side, it may have an impact on people’s self-worth and views that they are not good enough in comparison to their AI generation, resulting in poor confidence.”
Do recruiters give a damn? Tristan Barthel of Tate Recruitment in London has noticed a significant increase in the number of individuals utilizing AI to improve their images.
He claims it makes no difference in how he handles a person’s application. “I can see if a picture has been AI-generated, and it wouldn’t affect my decision, for me, it’s about the qualifications.”
