美国国家公共电台 NPR--A new AI-powered TikTok filter is sparking concern

A new AI-powered TikTok filter is sparking concern

Transcript¹

The filter makes users look younger and more glamorous². Some TikTokers are concerned that the tool promotes unrealistic beauty standards. (Story aired on All Things Considered on March 8, 2023.)

TECHNOLOGY

A new AI-powered TikTok filter is sparking concern

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

What you see on social media is not necessarily real life. Many people use filters when they're posting photos on social media - filters that change the light and maybe make people look brighter, more attractive. If you don't know, now you know. TikTok has unveiled a new filter powered by artificial intelligence which might be too good. NPR's Bobby Allyn takes a look.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE³: Annie Luong (ph) noticed it right away when she opened up TikTok recently.

ANNIE LUONG: I just saw a lot of girls turning on this filter and their reactions to the filter and how it was such an advanced filter, so I wanted to try it.

ALLYN: Luong is talking about TikTok's new beauty filter called Bold Glamour⁴. It's become a viral sensation because it's different than past beauty filters. It uses advanced artificial intelligence. Instead of just putting a digital layer over your face, this filter completely re-creates your nose, chin, cheeks and eyes using a process known as machine learning. Luong, a 28-year-old who works in management consulting in Toronto, looked at herself in the Bold Glamour filter and thought...

LUONG: OK, this looks pretty cool, but it just didn't feel like reality. And maybe that - it's because I know that it's not reality, where I'm like, I know that's not how I look in person, and I know that's - I'm not even going to try to look like that.

ALLYN: Some of the tens of millions of TikTokkers who have tried the filter have had similar reactions.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONTAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Like, this is hard to tell that it's a filter.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: This is just so scary. Like, it's so realistic, this one, and so damaging for people that think that this is what everyone should look like.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: I don't know what kind of sorcery that filter is...

ALLYN: Not only is the filter creating a glossier⁵, skinnier, more movie-star version of yourself, but people have been freaking out because it's just so persuasive⁶.

Luke Hurd is a consultant⁷ who works on filters for Instagram and Snapchat.

LUKE HURD: It is different. It's not cartoony. It's not drastically aging you or turning you into a child or flipping⁸ your gender⁹ on its head. And there are a lot of times where you have to kind of look down in the corner and see, wait, is there a filter on this person? And lately, it's been yes.

ALLYN: That blurring¹⁰ of the line between reality and fiction is something that can have a lasting¹¹ effect on your sense of self, says Renee Engeln. She's the director of the Body and Media Lab at Northwestern University.

RENEE ENGELN: So your own face that you see in the mirror suddenly looks ugly to you. It doesn't look good enough. It looks like something you need to change. It makes you more interested in plastic surgery or other kinds of procedures.

ALLYN: Engeln says some might see a TikTok filter as a playful thing, but it should be taken seriously.

ENGELN: It's not like a TikTok filter directly causes clinical depression, but I think it adds to this culture where a lot of young people are feeling really alienated¹² from themselves.

ALLYN: Whether creating freakishly good images out of scratch or chatbots that can hold sometimes disturbing conversations, artificial intelligence has been taking the internet by storm, and TikTok and other social media companies are trying to incorporate the latest AI magic into their apps to seize the moment. TikTok wouldn't comment on the design of the filter, and they wouldn't discuss how the feature could potentially worsen people's image of themselves. Luong, in Toronto, says she's happy to see so many people on TikTok - mostly young women - using the filter to talk about how social media perpetuates¹³ unattainable beauty standards. Many who commented on her video using the filter said, you know, I prefer the version of you without this filter.

LUONG: But then there were a few comments where it's like, oh, it improved so much; like, you look so much better; like, you should always keep that filter on.

ALLYN: Another TikTokker said, as she turned the filter on then off, no wonder everyone feels so ugly all the time.

Bobby Allyn, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 glamorous   

adj.富有魅力的；美丽动人的；令人向往的

参考例句：

• The south coast is less glamorous but full of clean and attractive hotels.南海岸魅力稍逊，但却有很多干净漂亮的宾馆。
• It is hard work and not a glamorous job as portrayed by the media.这是份苦差，并非像媒体描绘的那般令人向往。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

5 glossier   

光滑的( glossy的比较级 )； 虚有其表的； 浮华的

参考例句：

• This does not lead to stronger, glossier, faster growing hair. 这不会令头发更加坚韧、更有光泽、长得更快。

6 persuasive   

adj.有说服力的，能说得使人相信的

参考例句：

• His arguments in favour of a new school are very persuasive.他赞成办一座新学校的理由很有说服力。
• The evidence was not really persuasive enough.证据并不是太有说服力。

7 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

8 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

9 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

10 blurring   

n.模糊，斑点甚多，（图像的）混乱v.（使）变模糊( blur的现在分词 )；（使）难以区分

参考例句：

• Retinal hemorrhage, and blurring of the optic dise cause visual disturbances. 视网膜出血及神经盘模糊等可导致视力障碍。 来自辞典例句
• In other ways the Bible limited Puritan writing, blurring and deadening the pages. 另一方面，圣经又限制了清教时期的作品，使它们显得晦涩沉闷。 来自辞典例句

11 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

12 alienated   

adj.感到孤独的，不合群的v.使疏远( alienate的过去式和过去分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• His comments have alienated a lot of young voters. 他的言论使许多年轻选民离他而去。
• The Prime Minister's policy alienated many of her followers. 首相的政策使很多拥护她的人疏远了她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 perpetuates   

n.使永存，使人记住不忘( perpetuate的名词复数 )；使永久化，使持久化，使持续

参考例句：

• Giving these events a lot of media coverage merely perpetuates the problem. 媒体大量地报道这些事件只会使问题持续下去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Lack of water perpetuates poverty, increases the risk of political instability, and affects global prosperity. 水资源短缺导致贫穷，使政局不稳，且影响全球的繁荣。 来自互联网