Breaking the Filtered Lens: A Feminist Examination of Beauty Ideals in Augmented Reality Filters

This paper is a work-in-progress theoretical discussion in the field of Ethics of AI. Drawing from a feminist theoretical perspective, we discuss the political and personal implications of beauty ideals perpetuated by AI technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) filters or face filters, specifically beauty filters. Most research focuses on the impact of social media on individuals, particularly young women, or has analyzed the impact of AR filters in the context of social media. Therefore, we add a structural analysis to the debate by challenging the notion that conformity to beauty ideals is a personal matter, while stressing the necessity to analyze beauty filters as a phenomenon that extends its influence beyond social media. We explore how beauty filters emerge as both products and perpetrators of unrealistic ideals about feminine bodies and contribute to the ongoing objectification of women, exacerbating social pressure and hyper-fixation on appearance. We also reflect, from a critical phenomenological approach, on how socially constructed habits of female bodies in a patriarchal society are embodied and impact girls’ and women's autonomy and freedom. We suggest a critical examination of daily-use AI technologies such as beauty filters, which influence mental well-being, exemplified by phenomena like Snapchat dysmorphia. In this light of misogynistic AI, we advocate for a heightened awareness of women’s issues within the discourse on AI development.