Young women’s attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence beauty content on social media and their views on its impact on beauty ideals, body image, and beauty practices.
Keywords
Loading...
Authors
Issue Date
2025-02-12
Language
en
Document type
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Title
ISSN
Volume
Issue
Startpage
Endpage
DOI
Abstract
Abstract
For a long time, women have been subjected to socio-cultural beauty
ideals and expectations in the media. Viewing beauty content has a significant
impact on women’s internalization of beauty ideals, body image, and
beauty practices, sometimes negatively impacting their mental and physical
health.
Recently, a new form of beauty content has entered social media platforms:
Artificial Intelligence (AI) beauty content. This includes personalized
beauty advertisements, virtual influencers, beautifying filters, and beautyrelated
virtual product try-ons.
Given the potential negative impact of this content on women, this research
aims to provide some initial insights into young women’s knowledge,
use, and attitudes toward these applications, including their views and opinions
about the impact it has on them and other women. This was done by
performing a Thematic Analysis on four focus group discussions where young
women (aged 18-29) discussed topics on beauty ideals and practices, social
media, artificial intelligence, and aesthetic surgery.
Results show that, although the participants were not always aware these
applications are artificial intelligence, they showed much familiarity with
most AI beauty applications, except for virtual influencers. They were highly
aware of the socio-cultural beauty ideals present in AI beauty content and
worried about the lack of transparency about this content being AI. Consequently,
they believed AI beauty content could negatively impact women’s
views on beauty, body image, and beauty practices, especially young girls
or insecure women.
However, they distanced themselves from the negative impact by taking
on a post-feminist attitude, believing they were confident and self-aware
enough to not be impacted by AI beauty content. They considered beauty
practices enjoyable, and some AI beauty applications useful.
Ultimately, the participants viewed the impact on other girls and women
as a harmful development, that should be minimized through more transparency
and regulations. Some contradictions found in this research indicate
that increased transparency may not be effective. Instead, policymakers
should focus on creating regulations, such as banning AI beauty content or
setting age limits for social media use.
Description
Citation
Supervisor
Faculty
Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen