My current headshot photo is what I look like right now. I took this selfie at one of the covered wooden bridges of Madison County, Iowa (yes, THAT Madison County) and that’s my husband waving at the other end of the bridge. I work in travel and tourism. I like books. This photo is just fine, for now.
I was at a recent networking event, confessing with a laugh that I need to stop waiting to lose 30 pounds and just get the damned updated headshot photo made, when a woman said, “Oh, you should have AI make one.”
Reader, I did kinda snap her head off when I said, “Absolutely NOT.”
I will never use AI to create my headshot photos, because they are fake.
Being my real self is a helluva lot more important to me, and to my business at Tourism Currents, than saving some money by not hiring a local professional photographer.
What you see is what you get, in any photo of me.
A little filter softening of my somewhat rumpled 60+-year-old face is one thing. A whole-ass fake photo is quite another.
My tourism and events colleague Nicole Boyer made an eloquent case for authentic personal photos awhile back; I was stopped in my tracks by this post from Nicole on LinkedIn:
“I needed some new headshots.
The easy/quick thing? Use AI – it’s what all the cool kids are doing, right?
Wrong (in my opinion).
I contacted my friends at Mellonberry Photography and scheduled a photo shoot on location at Mount Hope.
Now, I have a whole set of photos that are truly, genuinely, authentically ME. I have photos around the beautiful property I represent.
I made a better impact on the earth, on the community, and the humans around me. I supported local. I supported another local business in our own community rather than supporting a large tech company.
Not only do I have results that better represent me and my property authentically, but I had a blast with the gals from Mellonberry. Seriously, we laughed so much…and maybe someday I’ll share a few goofy outtake moments.
Be Authentic. Be You. Support Fellow Humans.”
I am all for minding one’s budget and business expenses, but presenting a machine-generated photo of yourself as a professional headshot is not the way to save money, or time.
Related post – Tourism marketing with no budget: LinkedIn and your blog
People feel less favorably towards brands that are using AI generated visuals to show humans, or products.
Why would I sabotage my professional reputation, or my business, to save a little money or time?
Answer: I will not.
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I agree with you Sheila. I, too, won’t use AI for my professional head shot photos.
AI images will only get better and harder to detect. Now is the time to take a stand about transparency in using them.
I second this opinion. I also don’t like that Meta, as well as many businesses are repeatedly offering up AI options on social media platforms.
I feel like The Lorax who speaks for the trees. I prefer AI and their water and energy-sucking data centers stay away from me.
It somehow manages to be even more annoying than Microsoft’s Clippy, the buttinsky “office assistant.”
100%.
Why should I optimize myself beyond what is possible? I want people to know the real me. Having said that, my profile photo on many platforms is about 10 years old. I’m too lazy to update it. And the real me looks older, for some reason.
I do NOT understand this invasion of wrinkles and gray things! 🤣