SHOULD YOU USE A.I. FOR YOUR HEADSHOTS?

TLDR version – No, definitely not.

OK, let me expand on that a bit…

Firstly, to be clear, I’m talking about using one of those services where you send it an iPhone photo and its generates lots of different “headshots” of you, wearing different outfits, standing in different locations, with different expressions etc.

Its all very clever, but it is definitely not photography.

It’s a computer generated image (CGI) – the image is not a “photograph” of you any more than a painting or a drawing. The computer simply takes your original and then blends that with what it knows a generic professional headshot is supposed to look like, based on hoovering up millions of actual photographs taken by actual photographers, using their skills and knowledge of lighting and posing. All you will ever get back is a bland, generic image. Who wants that?

Think about why you need a headshot in the first place.

A real, authentic photograph of you is what personalises you online. It’s what allows people to think about you as a real person. People want to work with people, and the photograph is what proves that you are a person, not a bot (the bots are using AI generated headshots).

As A.I. becomes more prevalent, its never been more important to show yourself as an actual human, and with so much initial interaction happening online, your first opportunity to do that is with a real photograph.

If you cut corners and try to cheat with an A.I. headshot what is that saying about your professionalism?

And all of this assumes that what you get back from an A.I. headshot service actually does look like you – many people who have tried them are not convinced that it captures them properly, and if people already know you, they are going to notice immediately that something is “off” about your photo. I’ve seen people I know post their experiments with these services and they never look like I know the person looks in real life.

So it all comes down to this – what is your headshot for?

If you’re an actor then you already know that an A.I. headshot is not going to capture you, or your ability to inhabit a character, your emotions, your individuality. You can’t send an A.I. headshot in for a casting.

If you’re a professional and you need something for your Linkedin profile, or your business card, or website, then your headshot should be giving the impression of confidence, trustworthiness, and competence. Once you’ve been rumbled and anyone realises that you’ve taken the cheap, fake A.I. headshot route, all that goes out the window. Its not worth the risk.

So, no, you shouldn’t use an A.I. generated headshot. Simply because its not actually a photo of you.

And yes, all the pictures at the top of this page are real photographs of real people. People who made the effort to visit the studio and spend time (and money) to get genuine, authentic portraits of themselves.