In Snow White, the Wicked Queen asked, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The fairytale was set centuries ago, but vain people will be glad to know that there are modern AI alternatives to the Magic Mirror, such as AttractivenessTest.com.
Take or upload a photo, and the program will tell you how hot you are – or not, as the case may be. It places dots on the faces as it assesses them, suggesting its main criterion for beauty is facial symmetry.
However, it definitely has other preferences as well. I uploaded a picture of myself without makeup and got a respectable score of 7.39 out of 10. "You're pretty attractive," said the AI, damning me with faint praise. Then I uploaded a photo of myself with makeup, and it rewarded me with a score of 8.51. "You look stunning," it gushed. "But that's not my actual face, it's my face covered in gunk!" I wanted to protest.
Why does it prefer women to wear cosmetics? I reckon it's because it's been trained on photos of beautiful women with makeup on. Also, there's often much more contrast in these photos – darker eyes and brighter lips due to mascara, eyeliner and lipstick – which is more striking.
And with foundation and concealer, our skin tone is also more likely to be even – which AI perceives as beautiful. I'd also hypothesize that AI is mostly trained on women with tans, which is why it found my golden skin more appealing than my pale brown skin.
The lighting is important, too – when I uploaded a pic of me in makeup in dodgy lighting, I was back down to 7.39. That's the training again – largely, no doubt, from a set of professionally lit shots – but also the simple need for the software to find contrast. The makeup did it. Lighting helps – the best ring light would be a start.
To see how the AI graded women who are widely considered to be beautiful, I uploaded photos (all with makeup) of Kim Kardashian (rated 8.54), Taylor Swift (9.17), Zendaya (8.36), Nigella Lawson (8.29), Kylie Jenner (9.41) and Beyonce (8.93).
I also wanted to see how the AI performed with women who aren't considered conventionally attractive, so uploaded pictures of some female UK politicians who shall remain nameless. They scored 4.53 and 4.82 respectively. "You're unique and beautiful in your own way," said the program, comfortingly. I'm sure that would be a great consolation to them.
But who's the fairest of them all? Well, I didn't manage to score a 10 using photos of anyone real. Instead, that honor went to an AI image of a woman who, fittingly, didn't look unlike Snow White. She had razor-sharp cheekbones, perfect skin and lots of contrast between her features.
I wouldn't say she's better-looking than Beyonce, but hey: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the beholder isn't real here, anyway.
Ever wondered what camera does Taylor Swift use? Now we know – it's one of the best Olympus / OM System cameras!
