AI beauty ratings raise concerns for young people

gettyimagesbank

Click here for more articles by Kormedi.com.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can analyze a person’s face and assign a numerical score for attractiveness. Some online services even compare users’ scores in real time to determine a “winner,” while viewers rate or mock those who receive lower scores in live chats.

This is one example of the so-called “AI beauty rating” services that have recently appeared online. Some websites and apps go beyond simply analyzing photos or videos and assigning an attractiveness score. They allow users to compare their appearances with others and identify perceived facial “flaws,” sometimes offering suggestions on how to improve them.

Dawn Branley-Bell, an accredited psychologist and associate professor of digital health and wellbeing at Northumbria University in the U.K., recently highlighted the potential risks of this emerging AI beauty rating culture for the body image of teenagers and young adults in an article for The Conversation, a nonprofit academic and journalism platform.

Turning 'attractiveness' into numbers

One concern with AI beauty ratings is that they can make attractiveness — an inherently subjective concept — appear to be something that can be measured objectively.

What people find attractive varies across individuals and cultures, making it difficult to reduce attractiveness to a single numerical score.

AI is also not free from the standards and biases embedded in its training data and design. When a person says someone is “unattractive,” the comment may be understood as an individual opinion. But when AI assigns a specific number, such as a “4,” the result can feel more like an objective judgment based on scientific analysis, Branley-Bell points out.

These services may also reinforce an online culture centered on constant appearance comparisons and efforts to “improve” one’s looks.

One example is “looksmaxxing,” a term used to describe efforts to make one’s appearance as attractive as possible. While it can include conventional forms of self-care such as skin care and exercise, some online communities promote more extreme approaches, including restrictive diets and cosmetic procedures.

gettyimagesbank

Some groups may be particularly vulnerable

Appearance-focused online environments warrant particular attention among teenagers and young adults, whose body image and sense of self are still developing.

AI beauty ratings differ from simply displaying idealized images because they directly evaluate a user’s own face and assign it a numerical score.

For people who already experience appearance-related anxiety, a low AI score could be interpreted as an objective judgment, potentially encouraging unhealthy behaviors such as severely restricting food intake or exercising excessively.

However, there is yet to be direct research to conclude that AI beauty ratings themselves cause such behaviors. Eating disorders and body image problems have multiple psychological, social and environmental causes, and no single service should be identified as the cause.

Be mindful of dangerous beauty hacks

Some of the extreme methods promoted within looksmaxxing communities are also raising concerns.

A 2026 review of research on the subject noted that some online communities discuss extreme diets, drug use and cosmetic procedures as ways to improve appearance.

One prominent example is “bone smashing,” the practice of repeatedly striking facial bones with hard objects based on the belief that doing so can change the jawline or facial contours.

There is no scientific evidence that bone smashing improves appearance. Repeated blows to the face can instead cause serious injury.

AI scores could also be used to humiliate others

Branley-Bell also warns that AI beauty ratings could potentially be misused as a way to demean or control other people.

Previous research has documented how digital technologies can be used within intimate relationships to monitor, harass or control a partner. In such situations, a low AI beauty score could potentially become another tool for putting someone down.

There is not yet direct academic evidence showing that AI beauty-rating services are being used in coercive control. Branley-Bell nevertheless argues that the possibility deserves further investigation based on what is already known about technology-facilitated abuse.

gettyimagesbank

More research needed on impact of 'beauty scores' on teens

Another issue is whether teenagers should be protected from exposure to these services.

Some AI beauty rating platforms describe themselves as intended for adults, but may not have robust age verification procedures.

AI-generated beauty scores are not currently classified as a distinct category of harmful content. However, further research is needed into how services that competitively rank appearances, compare users with one another or invite people to be publicly judged may affect teenagers.

Above all, the number generated by AI does not represent an objective “attractiveness index.”

Branley-Bell emphasizes the need to examine how users interpret these scores and whether competitive appearance rating systems could contribute to body dissatisfaction or encourage risky attempts to alter one’s appearance.

This article from Kormedi.com, Korea’s top health care and medical portal, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.