First Impressions are Currency
How real do you want to be?
Once you answer that question, then it’s easy to decide whether you should take a chance with an AI generated headshot.
Still not sure?
Consider this…an AI headshot isn’t you—it’s an interpretation of you. Looking past the legal and ethical gray areas, you won’t know where its “DNA” came from. The generated alterations to the sample images you provide create a distortion, essentially a distorted version of you. Don’t be surprised by this but our faces are not perfect. AI is trained to modify and alter your features to create symmetry as a means of “beautifying.” That’s AI averaging faces, not capturing individuality. This isn’t what you want from your personal brand. Additionally AI breaks the laws of physics by making a face lit from multiple directions, creating highlights without a visible light source, and shadows that don’t align with the nose or jaw. Real photography obeys physics. AI sometimes forgets.
Using an AI generated headshot is very risky in professional settings where trust is directly correlated to your income. Even the slightest bit of subconscious friction can affect that trust.
I remind my clients that first impressions are currency.
Let that sink in.
We’re all getting really good at spotting AI so if your audience realizes your headshot is synthetic, they “check out.” It’s that simple. They already know that something about you isn’t really YOU, so why hang in there to see if the rest of you and your brand is genuine.
Ultimately, we come back to the original question here…do you want to be real? Do you want to engage with and do business with others who are real? If your answer is yes, then for all the machine alternations noted above you should avoid an AI generated headshot because the authenticity is lost and so is your opportunity for a connection with your prospect.
Portrait photography is one of the few remaining ways that the human touch cannot be replaced. As a master portrait photographer, not only am I an expert at posing my clients to perfection based on their body type, I’ve mastered the connection. The connection is what makes my clients’ eyes sparkle.
The connection is what creates images where my clients look at me as they look at their friends in a genuine conversation. That’s where the magic happens, and that’s when you create a masterful personal brand image. AI will always miss the mark on that.