I recently used A.I. to create a headshot. The photos looked like me, just slightly improved. I uploaded the best one to social media and, within minutes, over-the-top compliments started rolling in. Am I being dishonest? Do I have an obligation to mark my profile picture on social media as A.I.-generated? —Name Withheld
IT'S HARD TO SEE how anyone could suffer from this misrepresentation. People typically use social media to put themselves in a good light, and it sounds as though this picture looks like a realistic portrait of you after a visit to your hairdresser and a makeup artist. It’s also worth zooming out and acknowledging that nearly every photo of ourselves today is already highly mediated by technology: Newer smartphone cameras use machine-learning algorithms to decide how to light your face, boost colors, and so on. Still, what harm is there in crediting your digital accomplice? If you’re posting any other pictures of yourself, the discrepancies will be evident.
—Adapted from “The Ethicist” in The New York Times Magazine