I'm jealous of my AI self

I let AI "perfect" my selfies

Not really a picture of me.

We've all had those late-night scrolling sessions where time becomes a meaningless concept and suddenly it's midnight and you're deep in your ex's cousin's wedding photos. That's where I found myself when an ad for Remini, an AI photo enhancement app, stopped my thumb mid-scroll. I signed up for a free trial.

Within minutes, I had a gallery of AI-enhanced versions of myself staring back at me. Some looked like they belonged in a high-fashion editorial, others gave off uncanny valley vibes, but a few? They were 😚👌 perfection. Before my better judgement could kick in, I'd updated my social media trifecta—Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn—with new AI-polished headshots.

The morning after

The next morning, as comments on my new photo rolled in, I started to feel uneasy. “Guys, this photo was made by AI, keeping it real!” I commented, hoping to ease my conscience. But the responses only made me more uncomfortable: “Love the transparency, but this photo is fiiiire,” one Facebook friend wrote. Another simply said, “Wow, you’ve lost weight.” (Ahem.) Instead of feeling fabulous about all this attention, I started to feel icky.

By age 13, 80% of Canadian girls edit their photos before posting them online. And 90% of women of all ages digitally touch up their photos. The second most common wish for girls aged 16-22? To look like their filtered selves IRL.

I tried to rationalize it to myself. Celebrities have entire glam squads and professional retouchers, right? So what's the difference between that and me using a little AI magic? But deep down, I knew this wasn't just about looking polished for LinkedIn or getting more likes on Instagram.

Selfie with no filters (but some nice backlight)

The ethics of AI-enhanced beauty

The ubiquity of plastic surgery has already created a landscape where the bar for beauty is set so high that it’s almost unreachable without surgical intervention (or at least some botox). With the infiltration of AI, the standards are even higher.

On one hand, it was fun to see a “perfected” version of myself. On the other hand, it made me feel dissatisfied with… my actual face. The research (and my experience) seem to suggest that we’re setting ourselves up for disappointment when we compare ourselves to AI-enhanced versions of... ourselves.

I'm not here to shame anyone for using filters or AI apps. We're all just trying to navigate this weird, digital world where our online presence feels increasingly important. But maybe it's time we had an honest conversation about what all this digital "perfection" will do to our self-image.

Biweekly disruptions

OpenAI closes funding at $157 billion valuation, as Microsoft, Nvidia, SoftBank join round (CNBC): OpenAI just raised $6.6 billion from investors, making it worth $157 billion just 16 months after its launch. Despite its soaring popularity with 250 million weekly users, the AI company is spending billions on computer chips and facing leadership shake-ups, so even tech's hottest company isn't without growing pains.

The state of generative AI in the enterprise (Deloitte): A new Deloitte report reveals that while 67% of companies are ramping up AI investments, 68% have moved less than a third of their AI experiments into actual production. The study highlights a disconnect: despite high executive enthusiasm for AI, organizations are struggling with outdated tech infrastructure, data management issues, and the ability to measure AI's actual business impact—proving that the path from AI potential to performance is more marathon than sprint.

AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special (ABC / Disney+): If you haven’t seen it yet, "AI and the Future of Us," a special that promises to translate tech anxieties into prime-time viewing, is a good watch. Oprah interviews Sam Altman and Bill Gates (bullish on AI) and Aza Raskin, the inventor of endless scroll turned tech activist (not so bullish).