AI sparks controversy with what it thinks 'ugly' and 'beautiful' people look like

We're still very much in the early stages of AI and what it means for life as we know it.

Will it make all our jobs redundant, rendering us all obsolete, on our knees worshipping at the feet of our robot overlords? Or can it be a force for good?

I guess only time will tell, but in its fledgling stages, it's already causing some controversy with how it 'sees' the world.

A recent post from a firm on what 'ugly' and 'beautiful' women look like to AI has really got people questioning what it says about our cultural standards.

EasyGuideAI

The post, which has been shared widely on social media, was originally posted to Twitter by Easy Guide AI.

Basically, it's a chart showing different ethnicities - Black, Latino, Indian, Asian, and white - and the different variants of beauty, those being 'ugly', 'plain', 'pretty', and 'gorgeous'.

Sharing the post, the company asked: "Why does AI see Beauty this way? What do you think? What does it mean for millions of companies using AI to create images?"

Just a cursory look over the chart, it becomes clear that there are obvious links to what society - or the media - tends to deem as ugly and beautiful.

EasyGuideAI

Generally, the less make-up a person has got on, the messier the hair, and the older they are, the more likely they're going to be viewed as 'ugly' or 'plain' by AI.

I mean, while that's a sad conclusion, it's a fairly unsurprising one, or at least it should be; one flick through a beauty magazine and there is a clear pattern in terms of the models they use.

And when the chart was shared on Reddit, it caused quite the debate, with people saddened by it and pointing out obvious racial elements to characterisations.

EasyGuideAI

"Nice to see beauty in 'Black' is determined on how much white you have... i.e. being mixed... Kinda messed up tbh.. " wrote one person.

Another commented: "Pretty interesting that it didn't include an older female in ugly whites while it did that in all others. Also plain whites are definitely not plain."

"Geez. Sometimes it feels like society thinks becoming 'old' is the worst thing that can happen to a woman," put a third.

EasyGuideAI

While another added: "Because of human standards, of course.

"All 'ugly' are either 'messy' - which relates to poverty - or 'old', which reflects our society's value of beauty which is ingrained in the creators of AI and the search engines it uses.

"Equally, in the 'gorgeous' there is material value built in - a beauty associated with material possessions and makeup."

Adding: "The AI doesn't invent the patterns, it reads them."