…Researched and contributed by Gift BADEWO for TDPel Media.
Sports brand ASICS has launched an AI training programme to counter unrealistic body images generated by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms such as Midjourney.
AI tools create images based on web content and produce pictures of people who exercise as having chiselled jaws, muscles, and even 12-pack abs with no body fat.
ASICS’ AI Training bank features images of “real people enjoying exercise for the feeling, not aesthetics” and includes bespoke lines of code and AI prompts for platforms to command inclusive images.
The brand believes AI-generated images fail to represent the “real benefit of exercise” as it focuses on “extreme physical transformations” rather than the mental health uplift.
A survey commissioned by ASICS found 72% of people believe AI-generated images of people who exercise present unrealistic body types.
However, 72% also said such pictures could cause people to develop concerns about their own bodies, and 19% thought that non-natural supplements such as steroids would need to be taken to achieve such a body.
Some 40% believed that cosmetic surgery would be necessary, while 7% believed the physique shown in the pictures is unachievable.
Negative emotional responses to the images included feeling inferior, unattractive, and insecure, while 18% said they felt less motivated to exercise after seeing the pictures.
Head of physical activity at Mind, Hayley Jarvis, who is backing the campaign, said: “We want people to enjoy being physically active for the way it makes us feel, setting realistic goals that aren’t based around our weight or shape.”
Users can donate their own exercise images to the AI Training bank by uploading their pictures to social media using #TrainingAI and tagging @ASICS.
AI expert Omar Karim, who is working on the project, said it is important that AI is taught to accurately represent the world and people around us.
