“It’s happening, and if you don’t think it’s happening, it’s happening right in front of your eyes.” It’s a great opening by TikToker Kai.tallow, who sought to amplify the conversation about artificial intelligence imagery in the beauty industry. To do so, she reshared a video by Austin-based photographer Cassandra Klepac. The video, uploaded in August 2025, already garnered millions of views across Instagram and TikTok.
While at the airport, Cassandra picked up The Beauty Authority magazine. In the video, she noted that the photos are stunning and high-quality. The problem came up when she looked at the credit. Instead of a photographer’s name, the magazine included the prompts used to generate the images. As she noted, “Photo credit is an AI prompt ‘high fashion editorial photo.’” Page after page, the women weren’t real. One prompt even read, “Emphasizing elegant proportions.”
The magazine in question, NewBeauty, used AI-generated models in its Summer/Fall 2025 issue for a multipage article about plastic surgery and skin beautification. Cassandra pointed out the absurdity of the situation. She asked, “So why are we using fake women to talk about real women’s bodies? Why are we using AI-generated faces for this? All these procedures you can do, we’re using a photo of an AI-prompted women.”
As a photographer, it all felt off to Cassandra
Considering the reason for the photos, to highlight cosmetic procedures, she asked, “What is that doing for anyone? Do you trust this information when it’s paired with a fake face?” She was clearly disturbed, and she noted that it wasn’t about losing the job to AI.
She shared, “It just feels really off to me. As a photographer, who has photographed so many real people, mostly women, women who feel like they’re not photogenic. I love being able to get the trust of someone and being able to take a photograph that they really love, that they feel great in. And this just feels off to me. This isn’t even about removing photographers from magazines. This is about removing real people from stories that are about them.”
The community agreed with Cassandra. One user asked, “Isn’t that false advertising??” while another added, “I hate how dystopian everything is.” Another photographer also chimed in, stating, “As a photographer all I can say is thank you to anyone and everyone who enjoyed our skill, talent and work while you could. We tried we really did but damn we are so screwed.”
The start of a dangerous cycle
The debate touches on deeper issues regarding body image and the plastic surgery industry, as noted by the Beauty Independent. In an analysis, multiple experts weighed in on how this technology is changing our perception of reality. They noted that patients now bring AI-generated images to surgeons, expecting results that aren’t anatomically possible.
Robin Albin, founder and brand strategist at Insurgents, explained, “AI-generated faces are Frankensteined from datasets trained on millions of images, composites of algorithmic ‘perfection’ that aren’t even based on one real person’s features. You’re not comparing yourself to a retouched model anymore. You’re comparing yourself to a statistical amalgamation of features optimized to maximize dopamine hits.”
Effie Asafu-Ajaye, founder and director of Beautiful Sparks, noted, “There will always be two camps: those who celebrate flawless perfection and those who celebrate ‘real’ beauty. I sense that AI models and influencers will become completely normalized and future debates will center on how flawless AI models should look versus how ‘real’ or imperfect.”
Sticking to their guns
According to Fast Company, despite the backlash after Cassandra’s post, NewBeauty maintains that its policy of transparency is sufficient. Executive editor Liz Ritter stated, “NewBeauty features both real people and patients, alongside AI-generated images. We maintain a strict policy of transparency by clearly labeling all AI content in detail in our captions, including the prompts used to create these images, so readers always know the difference.”
For now, the outlet notes that the regulatory landscape remains a wasteland, with almost no laws preventing the use of AI in editorial content. While advertising faces some scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, magazines are largely free to create entire spreads of people who don’t exist.
The usage of AI is beginning to blue lines with reality. It has resulted in people like ‘Sabrina’ actress, who isn’t even 50 yet, getting scammed by an AI dress ad. This past Valentine’s Day, New York City even hosted the first AI dating cafe.
Noting that the magazine article talked about confidence, Cassandra said, “Confidence is not an AI-generated image that says ’emphasising elegant proportions,’” That’s not confidence. And uh, this woman has never looked in the mirror. I have. I looked in the mirror.” She then posed a question, “Are we trusting health advice from AI-generated faces?”
Published: Jul 7, 2026 02:10 pm