TikTok’s latest sensation is a real filter called Bold Glamor that corrects previous debates about toxic beauty standards on social media, all to give users a new look.
Slowly released to more than a billion users, Bold Glamor confidently blends the user’s real face with an AI-generated model of a best example, it takes both photos and videos.
Millions of posts on TikTok capture the shock of Bold Glamour’s sheer power, with people marveling at their short lips, perfect chin and eyebrows worthy of a celebrity.
“This is the latest attack on the ‘beauty myth’,” said Kim Johnson, associate professor of nursing at Middle Georgia State University in the United States.
Effects like Bold Glamor “lead to unhealthy behaviors like overeating, comparisons, and low self-esteem,” Johnson said.
Filters and effects have been a staple of TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat for years, but the new generation of features like Bold Glamor are paying more.
“It’s not subtle. It’s quick. It’s powerful,” said Gwendolyn Seidman, professor of psychology at Albright College, in the Psychology Today.
Those who yearn for social approval, such as underweight teenagers, “don’t like what they see when they turn off the filter, and the That’s a problem,” he added.
‘very funny’
But behind Bold Glamour’s controversial approach, observers are scratching their heads about the technology itself and wondering if the app is an unintended advance in artificial intelligence.
The first filters covered an effect – like funny glasses in Snapchat – on a face on the screen and it was easy to see with a sudden movement or waving a hand in front of the picture.
“What’s really cool about this is you can … take it in your hand and put it in front of your face and (continue to see) it’s really cool,” said mixed media artist Luke Hurd on TikTok.
And while the technology is available on powerful computers, real-time video filters are now on smartphones, ready for everyone.
“It’s AI for the masses to change someone’s face and that’s what’s catching a lot of people,” said Andrew Selepak, a public relations professor at the University of Florida.
Contact b AFPTikTok refuses to discuss the technology behind the app, leaving an air of mystery about how Bold Glamor actually works.
The company said that “being honest with yourself is celebrated and encouraged” on the site and that the effects help encourage “self-expression and creativity.”
“We continue to work with strategic partners and our community, to help keep TikTok a positive, supportive space for everyone,” TikTok said in a statement.
According to experts, Bold Glamor uses generative AI, following the same idea behind ChatGPT or Dall-E, software that can generate poetry or art and design on demand almost immediately .
Petr Somol, the research director of AI at Gen, a technology company, said that these types of filters have been around for a few years, but the latest version of TikTok is “well done and well done”.
The most important thing is that if Bold Glamor is the latest example of AI, then the filter depends on the gold of data to give its full effects.
This reliance on big data comes as the Chinese company is under intense scrutiny by the United States and other western governments who fear the company’s ties to the Communist regime in Beijing.
“The question is whether TikTok really cares about the implications of this shiny new thing,” Selepak said.
Wake up to the deep lies
Catfishing, scams, deep fakes: some wonder if the modern advances point to a world where there is now the ability to misuse technology at the fingertips of anyone with a phone.
The latest filters “aren’t deep-fake technology as such, but there’s a direct way to expand in that direction,” Somol said.
Siwei Lyu, professor of computer science at the State University of New York at Buffalo, said it is unlikely that many platforms like TikTok or Meta-owned Instagram will knowingly provide dangerous tools.
But “what’s more dangerous are people who understand the technology that can be changed to help users avoid being identified online,” opening up new avenues for misuse, he said. add to it.
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