Dove Rejects AI In Images Of Women, Vowing To Stick To ‘Real Beauty’
Image via Dove / PR Newswire
Dove has renewed its vows for realness even, and especially, as more inauthentic portrayals emerge. As the Unilever-led brand celebrates two decades of its Real Beauty campaign, it’s stepping into the future with a timely promise: no AI façades in its advertising, putting its foot down against the digital tide sweeping across the world.
With the rise of flawless, idealistic avatars, Dove is pressing pause on the artificial. The longtime champion of natural beauty sees the rising wave of AI-generated content as a direct challenge to what it means to showcase real human diversity and authenticity. Its latest campaign, The Code, throws a spotlight on the pitfalls of AI in perpetuating beauty standards that border on the fantastical, while unfolding to the haunting but apt Pure Imagination song made popular by the Timothée Chalamet-starring Wonka film.
The spot shows how entering descriptions like “a gorgeous woman,” “perfect skin,” and “the most beautiful woman in the world” into tools like Midjourney often yields airbrushed-looking pictures of women with often unattainable physical features.
Images of women generated using AI. Video screenshot via Dove
“The rise of AI poses one of the greatest threats to real beauty in the last 20 years, meaning representation is more important than ever. That’s why in honor of the 20th anniversary of the Campaign for Real Beauty, Dove is renewing its vows to champion real beauty, with a commitment to never use AI to create or distort women’s images,” the company explains in a statement.
For those who wish to generate images that are more representative, Dove introduces a new prompt in the commercial, which sees “according to Dove” added to the back of inputs. This delivers a more believable narrative consisting of diverse body types and ethnicities—one where beauty is inclusive and, above all, real.
Images of women generated using AI, prompted with the phrase “…according to Dove.” Video screenshot via Dove
Recognizing the winds of change, the company has published a playbook in the form of Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines for the public to create images that celebrate, rather than narrow, the spectrum of human beauty. Instead of shunning the technology completely, Dove recognizes its potential for driving positive change.
On its part, however, Dove has committed not to replace real women with AI-generated models, continuing to advocate for confidence and positivity in an era where the digital and real increasingly intersect.
