AI Photos Are Causing Havoc in South Korea’s Job Market

Seoul, South Korea.

There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of AI apps that can create “professional” images from just a single photo of a person. The only problem? They’re not real.

As major news outlets found out when a few aired an AI-enhanced photo of Minnesota shooting victim Alex Pretti, AI makes a novel image that closely resembles the source photo but will always add or remove certain features.

According to a report by Seoul Economic Daily, the rise of AI is affecting the job market in South Korea where formal photos of applicants are expected to be submitted. Convention dictates that the jobseekers visit a photo studio, which can cost close to $100. AI photo services, meanwhile, cost just a fraction of that.

“Resume photos are small anyway, and I didn’t notice much difference between heavily retouched studio photos and AI-generated ones,” one worker named Lee, who found a job at a marketing firm last year, tells Seoul Economic Daily.

Another prospective employee says he has passed several document screenings at companies using an AI-generated profile photo.

“The purpose of a job photo is to convey a neat impression, and AI does this most efficiently,” 27-year-old Kang tells Seoul Economic Daily.

But there are obvious problems: if a candidate arrives at the job interview looking different from the photo they’ve provided, it can create confusion — which has actually happened. In fact some companies have started adding “AI-generated photos prohibited” to job listings.

There are also warnings that AI photos can be screened out. While AI image detectors are notoriously unreliable, it seems to have spooked some job hunters.

“A 3,000-won [$2] AI app even composited a suit, and it looked perfect,” says Lee. “After seeing posts on online communities saying ‘AI photos are filtered out during screening,’ I ended up rebooking a studio session.”

But what’s clear is that AI photo apps are tempting for jobseekers: in October, a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults found that 44% of them would consider using an AI headshot, and this is playing out in real life as professionals increasingly opt for the controversial images for LinkedIn or a CV.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.