University of Toronto: U of T study asks AI to generate male and female body images - with predictable results

When prompted to create images of female and male bodies, artificial intelligence platforms overwhelmingly reproduce and amplify narrow western body ideals, a University of Toronto study has found.

The study, published recently in the journal Psychology of Popular Media, involved prompting three different AI platforms – Midjourney, DALL-E and Stable Diffusion – to create images of female and male bodies, including those of athletes.

The results came as little surprise.

"In a systematic coding of 300 AI-generated images, we found that AI reinforces the fit ideal, with athlete images far more likely to show very low body fat and highly defined muscularity than non-athlete images," says lead author Delaney Thibodeau, a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education (KPE).

The research reveals how AI systems perpetuate and amplify existing societal biases about body image, particularly affecting how young people might perceive ideal body types. The findings have significant implications for the development of more inclusive AI systems and highlight the need for greater awareness of algorithmic bias in image generation technologies.

Read more