Since 2004, Dove's Campaign for 'Real Beauty' has challenged society, media and the beauty industry itself to change its representation of women, be transparent about digital distortion and face-up to the harmful impact unrealistic beauty standards have on women and girls, according to the brand.

The launch of the app took place at Gallery MOMO in Johannesburg, where the Dove team introduced the tool's capabilities, followed by a robust panel discussion around AI, self-esteem and real beauty, the brand says.

According to Dove, the app created is a crucial part of training in application programming interfaces. This interface has been embedded into the Real Beauty Generation App, and visitors to the site will be given a selection of prepopulated drop-down 'prompts' to generate an AI image with and without the 'Real Beauty' filter applied.

They will then be asked to rate the image they think is best, and this information will be shared with the app partner to transform the interface into a tool that creates more representative, realistic images, Dove adds.

Following a demonstration of the tool's functionality, Dove invited some of its expert partners to take part in a discussion around:

  • AI technology
  • Dove's recently released Real State of Beauty report, and
  • the importance of authenticity in a rapidly evolving digital world. 

The following individuals gave their insights during the discussion:

  • Zuraida Jardine, an integrative wellbeing strategist
  • Ian Mangenga, designer and founder of the innovative skills training hub Digital Girl Africa
  • Thobeka Phanyeko, features writer at Glamour South Africa
  • AI expert and renowned journalist Arthur Goldstuck, and
  • head of Dove South Africa Lerato Dumisa.

"We as Dove first noticed there was an issue with how AI generates images of women, specifically in that there's a severe lack of representation," says Dumisa. 

"The fact is, most people struggle to understand the true diversity of real beauty, so we can't expect nuanced representation from AI, which often creates imagery that showcases humanity's inherent biases. That's why we have to train AI, to know that there are so many different kinds of beauty, different kinds of women and that there is incredible value in understanding Real Beauty," adds Dumisa.

According to the brand, the creation of the application tool comes shortly after the release of Dove's Real State of Beauty report, which saw data collected over the past 20 years, and the interviewing of more than 33 000 respondents across 20 markets — including South Africa — about the reality of beauty, its definition and its impact on their lives.

The report found that a staggering 63% of South African women, and 35% of girls aged 10 to 17, grapple with mid to low levels of 'body esteem' and that two in five women globally would give up a year of their life to achieve their beauty ideals.

"It's essential to develop tools that can make generative AI images more realistic and more representative. The research has shown that AI-generated images can be disempowering for a lot of women, which is why we need more representation and diversity in its images, and more transparency about how this technology functions," says Dumisa. 

The App tool, she adds, requires audiences from across the world to help train generative AI tools to be more inclusive.

"What's really exciting is that this is a South Africa-specific tool, and we have an opportunity to drive African representation by giving this tool the prompts to accurately reflect all the diverse races and ethnicities in our region. The goal is to use this new technology to 'Keep Beauty Real', and to help all its audiences to reimagine what Beauty means to them," Dumisa adds. 

According to the brand, Dove has renewed its vows to protect real beauty, committing to never using AI to represent real women in its ads.

To help set new digital standards of representation, Dove created the Real Beauty Prompt Guidelines, easy-to-use instructions for everyone on how to create images that are representative of Real Beauty on the most popular generative AI programmes.

The brand concludes that Dove's new campaign, 'The Code', also reflects the impact of AI on beauty and demonstrates the impact real beauty has made to change beauty for the better, 20 years and counting.

For more information, visit www.dove.com. You can also follow Dove on Facebook, X, or on Instagram. 

*Image courtesy of contributor