TikTok’s Hyper-Realistic ‘Aged’ Face Filter is Praised By Users
A new artificial intelligence (AI) powered face filter that realistically shows TikTok users how they might look as they age is being praised online.
Earlier this year, PetaPixel reported on a viral TikTok beauty filter called “Bold Glamor” that left users shocked and concerned about how dangerously realistic it was.
The AI-powered Bold Glamour filter so convincingly airbrushed and “improved” a person’s face in real-time — that TikTok users were unable to decipher between reality and their digitally enhanced faces in a video.
@gabbyhua Absolutely not. #aged #filter β¬ sunet original – π¦πππββππ¦
As AI advancements make it increasingly difficult to tell what is βrealβ in images online, social media users questioned the psychological impact of TikTok’s Bold Glamor filter and its ability to distort an individual’s self-perception.
‘Too Real’
However, the latest viral TikTok filter called “Aged” — which has been used in over 5.8 million videos to date — is being applauded for its lifelike realism and concept.
@thatcurlytopp I just know my future self would be so proud π₯Ή
The Aged filter seamlessly ages a personβs face in real-time to show how their skin and facial structure might change as they get older.
@r3igang
The filter uses the latest machine technology to map out a TikTok user’s face and accurately simulates features like wrinkles, hyperpigmentation, jowls, and eye bags to predict what that person might look like as they age.
The Aged filter was dubbed “too-real” by TikTok users — sometimes even thinning a subject’s lips, altering their teeth, and greying their hair to show how different features naturally change with age.
‘More Than Just a Filter’
Although Generation Z users admitted to being “terrified” by the realistic Aged filter, many ultimately praised it.
While TikTok beauty filters like βBold Glamorβ have been criticized for reinforcing dangerous beauty standards, Generation Z users claimed that the Aged filter was a welcomed “reality check” for them.
@yasmeenayari This got me emotional at so many levels
Some TikTokers emotionally described it as “more than just a filter” and said that the AI effect taught them to gain “acceptance” about the aging process.
“I think what is meanest about this filter is that it takes things that are actually on your face and intelligently predicts how much worse they’re gonna get.. But the longer I look at this [image], honestly the less scary it is to me,” a content creator declares.
@kaileybreyer If she can keep the fake eyelashes up, we goodπ
Another user says: “This filter made me cry… making it to this age would be such an honor.”
“Aging is wild. Can’t believe technology is giving us the ability to look into a mirror that shows us the future,” another TikToker writes.
‘Playing Favorites’
However, some social media users complained that the Aged filter was “playing favorites” and making some people look far younger than others in videos.
@katedavidsun every video iβve seen NO ONE has grey hair like is there a way to change this filter? Im so confused
TikTok user Amina Kinsi personally discovered that there was a difference with her image with the Aged filter depending on whether she used the front or back camera of her smartphone. Kinsi suggested that the less-powerful front smartphone camera offered a more flattering result.
While other another influencer believed that camera lighting affected how old a subject looks with the Aged Filter.
In May, TikTok introduced a new $6 million fund to pay creators for making viral filters and effects such as “Aged” — in the first reward system of its kind on the platform.
For some time, creators have been voicing their frustration with the lack of opportunity to directly monetize their filters and effects, which constitute the viral trends used by millions of TikTok users every day.
Image credits: Header photo sourced via TikTok/@kyliejenner; TikTok/@gabbyhua; TikTok/@stassischroeder.
