Filters are an indispensable component of content creation. However, creators have often struggled with the filters coming off during a shoot or warping as they move their bodies but not anymore.
TikTok has introduced a hyper-realistic AI-powered face filter that sticks to your face uniformly no matter how much you move.
If you’ve been active on TikTok in the last few weeks, you might have seen the viral video where a woman is seen touching her lips and face as if she doesn’t believe it’s her real face because, guess what; it’s not. What seems to be her face is actually the recently launched AI filter.
TikTok also promises to add more AI-powered effects that seamlessly match the user’s skin and look practically indistinguishable.
Many other similar videos have surfaced on the platform where the creators have been seen covering their faces with their hands or changing their facial expressions. While the older filters would have glitched in these cases, the new filter remains fixed on their faces and looks just as natural as their real skin.
This TikTok filter, known as Bold Glamour, is the first step towards creating a future with AI-powered filters that transform the way people look online and are almost impossible to detect. While this filter might be an exciting new beginning for the creators, TikTok officials, for some reason, have decided to stay mum on the matter. Repeated emails and queries about Bold Glamour have gone unanswered.
Other AI Filters
TikTok launched yet another new set of AI face effects last month. These tools include generative AI effects that can be used to alter certain specific facial features and render them flawless. For example, one of the AI tools will let you pucker your lips so that they look bigger, fuller, and more appealing. Similarly, other AI effects will let you erase or alter your eyebrows and enhance your smile.
Many creators have already been given early access to these effects and have started using them in full force.
The technology behind this filter isn’t anything new. In fact, it has been rapidly developing in the past few years. Hyper-realistic face alterations have already been possible through software like DeepFake.
However, what’s impressive is that while those tools require a fair understanding of the technology, Bold Glamour has made it available to billions of people who need absolutely no expertise in the field in order to effectively use it.
User Reactions
But not surprisingly, the filter received mixed reviews from the users. While some are in awe of the technology behind it, others find it rather scary.
This filter needs to be banned. Shocking. I’ve now set a standard for myself that is unrealistic and that I can’t meet.Twitch influencer Keify Bankhead
And since this is just the beginning, netizens are worried that a new generation of such hyperrealistic filters will take a huge toll on people’s self-esteem. It’ll be hard to know who to trust online, and cases of catfishing will drastically increase.
Many users are worried about the psychological impact that these filters will have by setting unrealistic beauty standards.
Spencer Burnham, an AI creator who has made many popular filters and effects for TikTok and Instagram, even went so far as saying that filters like Bold Glamour will be a “breeding ground for widespread body dysmorphia.”
