The Unilever masterclass was a deep discussion about changing AI's understanding of beauty. Source: Gallo Images

"I think we all grew up seeing magazines that were constantly berating women and their bodies and their look," shared Le’chelle Aldridge, a beauty and lifestyle influencer.

"I was constantly seeing that, and so growing up, I wasn't, I don't think I was a plump kid. But I still, at that young age of like 10, 12, 14, I was already looking at my body and thinking, ‘this doesn't really fit the Kate Moss mould’.”

Dove: Standing for real beauty; changing how AI generates images of beauty

3 Oct 2024

Unilever’s initiative comes in response to the growing concern that AI-generated images often perpetuate harmful stereotypes and unrealistic beauty standards.

Dove's partnership with Adobe’s Firefly platform is central to this effort, using advanced text-to-image generation to create real, diverse depictions of women.

I don't really look like that. So clearly, my body that I have is not beautiful. It's not going to be desirable. It's not what is normal.

Lerato Dumisa, Dove marketing manager, spoke passionately about the decision behind this campaign, saying, “90% of content you’ll see online by 2026 will be AI-generated, and it’s learning from toxic standards of beauty.”

“This campaign is about ensuring that our diverse, authentic standards are part of what AI is taught.”

Real beauty

This initiative aligns with Dove’s long-standing Real Beauty campaign, which has focused on challenging narrow beauty standards for 20 years.

Lerato Dumisa, Dove South Africa marketing manager

The latest Real Beauty Report, conducted by Dove, revealed that while women are increasingly aware of AI-generated imagery, one in two still suffer from lowered self-esteem due to these fabricated ideals.

“Women’s self-esteem is affected even when they know the image is fake,” explained Dumisa.

“Our campaign is about counteracting that by showcasing real beauty.”

Changing the narrative

Zuraida Jardine, a Dove partner and integrative wellbeing strategist, shared her thoughts on how AI could empower diverse representation.

“Growing up, there was no representation. But today, with tools like this, we get to change the narrative. We get to say, ‘This is what I look like,’ and it’s incredibly exciting.”

Jardine emphasised how important it is for AI to capture the nuances of different identities, including race, skin tone, and culture.

The new AI engine isn’t just about reflecting diversity on a superficial level.

By using specific, detailed prompts in the Firefly platform, Dove's team is ensuring AI understands and generates images with real-world diversity.

VML South Africa’s Creative Director Dominique Baxewanos shared how they built the engine:

We started breaking it down to 20 women. Because then we're going regional. We're being mindful of where someone comes from and what region of the country. It's not the same as just saying, oh, a Scandinavian woman. Because that all tends to be perceived as a blonde or a white woman. And we started making a lot of those prompts really, really detailed.

“We started feeding AI human details – stretch marks, hyperpigmentation, real skin tones – because AI was learning from this overly polished, perfect world. We wanted to change that.”

Beauty of ethical AI

Unilever’s collaboration with Adobe is a result of the growing movement to make AI development more inclusive.

Adobe’s Firefly platform allowed Dove to strategically prompt generative AI models with authentic beauty standards.

“It’s about training AI to get better at capturing reality,” Dumisa said, explaining the technical aspect of how Adobe’s beta platform helped Dove take a proactive stance in shaping the future of beauty representation in digital media.

Adobe’s tools played a vital role in enabling Dove to focus on generating images that reflect genuine diversity, from varying skin tones to different ethnic features.

We didn’t just say ‘South African women’; we went regional, ensuring the engine reflects specific, real beauty standards.

Positive diversity

Diversity in AI is not just a cosmetic concern. It has far-reaching implications for media representation, self-esteem, and societal standards.

“In a world where digital content is becoming more AI-driven, it’s crucial that these images reflect the reality of the people viewing them,” Dumisa said.

The Dove Self-Esteem Project, which aims to empower young girls through confidence-building toolkits, also plays a key role in this.

Dumisa explained that “by 2030, Dove hopes to reach over a billion girls worldwide, teaching them to embrace their real beauty in a world increasingly shaped by AI.”

Great expectations

Ian Mangenga, designer and founder of Digital Girl Africa, stressed the importance of government regulation in helping minimise the negative effects of technology on people.

"So the California AI Bill… what they're proposing is that they want all tech companies in 2030 to start indicating whether a piece of content, image, or whatever has been generated by AI.”

“That way it would make everyone who's consuming that piece of content to know that, okay, I don't need to kind of force myself to live up to these expectations because this was generated with AI."

Making it useful

As AI technology continues to evolve, the panel stressed the need for responsible and ethical usage across industries.

Baxewanos pointed out that Dove’s Real Beauty Generation is just the beginning.

“This work isn’t stopping here. There’s a lot more on the horizon.”

As brands increasingly turn to AI for content generation, Dove’s initiative serves as a blueprint for ensuring that future AI models are trained to reflect real, inclusive standards of beauty rather than perpetuate harmful stereotypes.