SAN ANTONIO — Whether it’s for a work-related biography or a LinkedIn profile picture, working professionals traditionally turn to photographers for their headshot needs. However, with the rising popularity of artificial intelligence, many are now turning to technology for this crucial service.
“All eyes are on generative AI right now,” said Dr. Nishant Vishwamitra, an assistant professor of information systems and cybersecurity at UTSA. “And I think that is going to be a hot topic for the next 10 years at least."
Despite their popularity, marketing experts caution against using AI headshots professionally, saying they can compromise one’s integrity and authenticity.
“From an employer standpoint, if I'm seeing this image that's not really you, it can compromise the trust that you're trying to build,” said Alejandra Bryant, co-owner and founder of Meet the Bryants, a San Antonio-based brand and marketing agency.
Alejandra and her husband, Jason, offer headshot and corporate photography, in addition to other professional services.
To test the various options for headshot-seekers, KENS 5 selected three popular AI platforms with varying price points and reviews. With KENS 5 Digital Producer Darcy Ramirez acting as our volunteer, Meet the Bryants also snapped a few photos of Darcy for our experiment. A small team was assigned to analyze the results.
The AI process
Each AI platform works in a similar fashion, requiring users to upload a series of selfies or real photos that are used to create a “photoshoot.”
Here are some of the seed photos we submitted for Darcy:
The AI results
After uploading the photos, waiting times varied from one hour to one day before we received the results.
Here’s a look at sample results from each platform we tried:
Test 1: Headshot Pro
HeadshotPro cost $29 for 30 AI images. Of the three platforms we tried, this one offered the least variety in terms of wardrobe and poses.
Our team also concluded that many of the photos looked unrealistic because head-to-body proportions did not match Darcy.
Test 2: TryItOn
TryItOn cost $21 for 100 AI images. While this platform offered the most variety in terms of poses, wardrobe and backgrounds, many of the images looked unrealistic.
In many of the photos, Darcy’s facial features were misshapen or not fully attached to her face.
Test 3: Dreamwave, $35 for 100+ AI images
At $35, Dreamwave was the most expensive of the platforms we tried, but also provided the most images (over 100). Our team concluded that this platform did the best job of capturing Darcy’s likeness, and several results looked similar to her real-life photo.
What we found
Between the three platforms, Dreamwave had the most realistic representations of Darcy. But she was ultimately unsatisfied with the results of all three platforms.
“I feel like it’s definitely AI,” Darcy said. “There are some where I think I don’t look anything like that.”
In contrast, Meet the Bryants also provided photos from Darcy’s photoshoot, which she was happy with.
“I would put them on my LinkedIn immediately,” Darcy said.
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