Education, Science, Technology, Innovation and Life
Open Access
Sign In
  1. Home
  2. Journals
  3. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology
  4. Vol 6, Issue 5, 2024

A Study of Artificial Intelligence's Impact on Aesthetic Standards and Its Potential Social Dilemmas

Download as PDF

DOI: 10.23977/jsoce.2024.060505 | Downloads: 107 | Views: 3380

Author(s)

Honglong Chen 1

Affiliation(s)

1 Northbridge International School of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, 12102, Cambodia

Corresponding Author

Honglong Chen

ABSTRACT

The advent of Artificial Intelligence[1] in aesthetics is altering the concepts of beauty and renewing revolutionary societal justice perspectives. Machine learning tools, powered by big data, determine beauty as such, thereby denying cultural and historical interpretations that have long dominated the discourse. Combating these arguments, AI's quantification of beauty gives a 'fair' solution; nonetheless, AI will replicate the present bias. The application of AI in facial analysis and photo editing, for instance, only enhances racism and sexism, thereby creating much anxiety about appearance and portraying the norm of beauty. It directly puts the prospects of shared cultural differences at risk, which is rather worrying as it weakens the concept of diversity. Additionally, AI empowers the public rather than experts, sacralizing ordinary people's tastes and preferences, thus limiting the creative and innovative processes in favor of the crowd’s mass-cultural standards. The ethos and politics of AI in these domains of aesthetics present a sensitive area that should be handled cautiously because it perpetuates social injustices. When these biases are eliminated and better standards are set for the AI to learn from, AI has the possibility of enhancing the aesthetic realm and society in general. This essay critically analyses the consequences of the establishment of AI beauty standards and calls for a more cautious manner in which AI is implemented such that it improves societal rich diversity rather than eradicating it.

KEYWORDS

Artificial Intelligence, Beauty Standards, Social Equity, Aesthetics, Machine Learning, Cultural Diversity, Bias in AI, Facial Analysis

CITE THIS PAPER

Honglong Chen, A Study of Artificial Intelligence's Impact on Aesthetic Standards and Its Potential Social Dilemmas. Journal of Sociology and Ethnology (2024) Vol. 6: 35-42. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/jsoce.2024.060505.

REFERENCES

[1] AI Face Analyzer. (n.d.). https://www.stork.ai/ai-tools/ai-face-analyzer#:~:text=The%20AI%20Face% 20 Analyzer % 20is, quality%2C%20and%20overall%20facial%20contour.
[2] Harris, Meggen. "Medical Experts Share Impact of AI on Beauty Standards." Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024, www.forbes.com/sites/meggenharris/2024/03/27/medical-experts-share-impact-of-ai-on-beauty-standards/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2024.
[3] Mattu, Jeff, Larson Julia Angwin, Lauren Kirchner, Surya. "How We Analyzed the COMPAS Recidivism Algorithm." ProPublica, 20 Dec. 2023, www.propublica.org/article/how-we-analyzed-the-compas-recidivism-algorithm.
[4] Stern, Cassandra. "Dove Pledges to 'Keep Beauty Real' in the Age of AI." Cosmeticsdesign.com, 10 Apr. 2024, www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Article/2024/04/10/Dove-pledges-to-keep-beauty-real-in-the-age-of-AI. Accessed 30 July 2024.
[5] Meyl, Vadim. "Artificial Intelligence and the Metamorphosis of Beauty: A Philosophical Inquiry." Open Journal of Philosophy, vol. 14, no. 01, 1 Jan. 2024, pp. 180–200, https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2024.141015.
[6] NASCIMENTO, Marcio Luis Ferreira. "Aesthetical Beauty of Mathematics and the Pythagorean Theorem." DEStech Transactions on Social Science, Education and Human Science, no. esem, DEStech Publications, June 2018. Crossref, doi:10.12783/dtssehs/esem2018/23899.
[7] Fedchuk, Dmitry A. "The Concept of Beauty in Dionisii Karthusian's Treatise 'On the Grace of the World and the Beauty of God.' " Philosophy of the History of Philosophy, vol. 3, Saint Petersburg State University, 2023, pp. 147–162. Crossref, doi:10.21638/spbu34.2022.110.
[8] Dusing, Klaus. "Beauty as the Transition From Nature to Freedom in Kant's Critique of Judgment." Noûs, vol. 24, no. 1, JSTOR, Mar. 1990, p. 79. Crossref, doi:10.2307/2215614. 
[9] Anand, Shriya. "A.I. Understands the 'Beauty Standard.' " Stuyspec.com, 2024, stuyspec.com/article/a-i-understands-the-beauty-standard.
[10] Wick, Madeline R., and Pamela K. Keel. "Posting Edited Photos of the Self: Increasing Eating Disorder Risk or Harmless Behavior?" International Journal of Eating Disorders, vol. 53, no. 6, 5 May 2020, pp. 864–872, https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23263.
[11] Zhang, David, et al. "Quantitative Analysis of Human Facial Beauty Using Geometric Features." Pattern Recognition, vol. 44, no. 4, Elsevier BV, Apr. 2011, pp. 940–950. Crossref, doi:10.1016/j.patcog.2010.10.013.
[12] Kuck, Kevin. "Generative Artificial Intelligence: A Double-Edged Sword." 2023 World Engineering Education Forum - Global Engineering Deans Council (WEEF-GEDC), IEEE, Oct. 2023. Crossref, doi:10.1109/weef-gedc59520.2023.10343638.
[13] Deep Media. "The New Beauty Standard: Driven by Generative AI." Medium, 12 June 2023, medium.com/ @deepmedia/the-new-beauty-standard-driven-by-generative-ai-990a9e6912a9.
[14] Ozimek, Phillip, et al. "How Photo Editing in Social Media Shapes Self-Perceived Attractiveness and Self-Esteem via Self-Objectification and Physical Appearance Comparisons." BMC Psychology, vol. 11, no. 1, 6 Apr. 2023, bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-023-01143-0.
[15] Zhang, Lei, et al. “Facial Beauty Analysis Based on Geometric Feature: Toward Attractiveness Assessment Application.” Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 82, Oct. 2017, pp. 252–265, https://doi.org/10.1016/j. eswa. 2017.04.021.
[16] Dominguez-Catena, Iris, et al. "Assessing Demographic Bias Transfer From Dataset to Model: A Case Study in Facial Expression Recognition." arXiv.org, 20 May 2022, doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2205.10049.
[17] Levin, Sam. "A Beauty Contest Was Judged by AI and the Robots Didn't like Dark Skin." The Guardian, 8 Sept. 2016, www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/08/artificial-intelligence-beauty-contest-doesnt-like-black-people.
[18] Benjamin, Ruha. Race after Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code. Medford, Ma, Polity, 17 June 2019.
[19] Kircher, Madison Malone, and Callie Holtermann. "How Is Everyone Making Those A.I. Selfies?" The New York Times, 8 Dec. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/style/lensa-ai-selfies.html.
[20] Chen, T., Lian, K., Lorenzana, D., Shahzad, N., & Wong, R. (2020). Occidentalisation of Beauty Standards: Eurocentrism in Asia. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4325856
[21] Meyers, Ethan A., et al. "Inducing Feelings of Ignorance Makes People More Receptive to Expert (Economist) Opinion." Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 15, no. 6, Cambridge UP (CUP), Nov. 2020, pp. 909–925. Crossref, doi:10. 1017/s1930297500008135.
[22] Panda, Vaishali, et al. "Turning Data into Insights: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for Better Understanding of Social Media Consumer Behaviour." 2023 International Conference on Sustainable Emerging Innovations in Engineering and Technology (ICSEIET), IEEE, Sept. 2023. Crossref, doi:10.1109/icseiet58677.2023.10303309.
[23] Bellaiche, Lucas, et al. "Humans versus AI: Whether and Why We Prefer Human-created Compared to AI-created Artwork." Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, vol. 8, no. 1, 2023, p. 42, doi.org/10.1186/ s41235023004996, https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235023004996.

All published work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Copyright © 2016 - 2031 Clausius Scientific Press Inc. All Rights Reserved.