Elizabeth Lazarki, a renowned UI/UX designer with experience at tech giants like Google Maps, Facebook, and YouTube, recently shared a startling experience involving the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Lazarki was set to attend a conference on UX and AI design later this year. However, when she received the promotional poster for the event, she noticed something peculiar about her photo.
In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), Lazarki explained, “I just saw an ad for the conference with my photo and was like, wait, that doesn’t look right. Is my bra showing in my profile pic, and I’ve never noticed…? That’s weird.” After comparing the two images side by side, she realized that her original photo had been altered. The new image had an added, AI-generated bra peeking out from her blouse.
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AI’s Impact on Women’s Representation
Lazarki quickly reached out to the conference organizer, who was apologetic and promised to look into the matter. The organizer informed her that the social media manager had used AI to resize the photo to fit the poster. Unfortunately, the AI tool took it upon itself to create an inappropriate and entirely fabricated version of Lazarki’s image. “AI invented the bottom part of the image, imagining that women’s shirts should be unbuttoned further, with some tension around the buttons, revealing a little hint of something underneath,” Lazarki explained in her post.
HAVE A LOOK AT THE VIRAL POST AND PHOTO:
I’m talking at a conference later this year (on UX+AI).
I just saw an ad for the conference with my photo and was like, wait, that doesn’t look right.
Is my bra showing in my profile pic and I’ve never noticed…? That’s weird.
I open my original photo.
No bra showing.I put… pic.twitter.com/CpoIgiXtUI
— Elizabeth Laraki (@elizlaraki) October 15, 2024
The revelation of this AI-generated alteration ignited widespread discussion, with Lazarki’s post amassing over 2 million views. Many users expressed their disbelief at AI’s potential to reinforce gender stereotypes and sexualize images of women. One user commented, “Fascinating story. I’ve used AI and noticed how it consistently sexualizes images of women. It’s an interesting reflection of our culture.”
Another user highlighted the irony, stating, “The conference is about AI and UX? You’ll have a fascinating talk with this first-hand experience of how AI can mess up.”
As the debate around AI’s role in shaping representation continues, Lazarki’s experience serves as a poignant reminder of the technology’s unintended consequences in modern design.