AI decides "who is the fairest of them all" – and there's a perfect 10 who's more attractive than Kylie Jenner (9.41), Taylor Swift (9.17) and Beyonce (8.93)
(Image credit: Attractiveness Test)
In Snow White, the Wicked Queen asked, "Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?" The fairytale was set centuries ago, but vain people will be glad to know that there are modern AI alternatives to the Magic Mirror, such as AttractivenessTest.com.
Take or upload a photo, and the program will tell you how hot you are – or not, as the case may be. It places dots on the faces as it assesses them, suggesting its main criterion for beauty is facial symmetry.
However, it definitely has other preferences as well. I uploaded a picture of myself without makeup and got a respectable score of 7.39 out of 10. "You're pretty attractive," said the AI, damning me with faint praise. Then I uploaded a photo of myself with makeup, and it rewarded me with a score of 8.51. "You look stunning," it gushed. "But that's not my actual face, it's my face covered in gunk!" I wanted to protest.
Why does it prefer women to wear cosmetics? I reckon it's because it's been trained on photos of beautiful women with makeup on. Also, there's often much more contrast in these photos – darker eyes and brighter lips due to mascara, eyeliner and lipstick – which is more striking.
And with foundation and concealer, our skin tone is also more likely to be even – which AI perceives as beautiful. I'd also hypothesize that AI is mostly trained on women with tans, which is why it found my golden skin more appealing than my pale brown skin.
The lighting is important, too – when I uploaded a pic of me in makeup in dodgy lighting, I was back down to 7.39. That's the training again – largely, no doubt, from a set of professionally lit shots – but also the simple need for the software to find contrast. The makeup did it. Lighting helps – the best ring light would be a start.
Even Kylie Jenner, Taylor Swift and Beyonce don't score a perfect ten from this AI judge (Image credit: Future)
To see how the AI graded women who are widely considered to be beautiful, I uploaded photos (all with makeup) of Kim Kardashian (rated 8.54), Taylor Swift (9.17), Zendaya (8.36), Nigella Lawson (8.29), Kylie Jenner (9.41) and Beyonce (8.93).
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I also wanted to see how the AI performed with women who aren't considered conventionally attractive, so uploaded pictures of some female UK politicians who shall remain nameless. They scored 4.53 and 4.82 respectively. "You're unique and beautiful in your own way," said the program, comfortingly. I'm sure that would be a great consolation to them.
But who's the fairest of them all? Well, I didn't manage to score a 10 using photos of anyone real. Instead, that honor went to an AI image of a woman who, fittingly, didn't look unlike Snow White. She had razor-sharp cheekbones, perfect skin and lots of contrast between her features.
I wouldn't say she's better-looking than Beyonce, but hey: beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And the beholder isn't real here, anyway.
Ariane Sherine is an author and journalist on many subjects including interiors, and singer-songwriter (under the artist name Ariane X). She has written for the Guardian, Times, Independent, Telegraph, Spectator, Mail, New Statesman, Esquire, NME, Sun and Metro. She regularly appears on television and radio.
She's also written comedy for the BBC and Channel 4, and is still known worldwide for the 2008 Atheist Bus Campaign, featuring adverts on buses which proclaimed 'There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life' sponsored by Richard Dawkins.
As a result, Ariane went on to edit and compile the bestselling celebrity charity anthology The Atheist's Guide to Christmas (HarperCollins). She has also written three self-help books for major publisher Hachette: Talk Yourself Better, How to Live to 100 and The How of Happy (the last two co-written with public health consultant David Conrad). Ariane's debut novel Shitcom was published in 2021, and is a hilarious body swap comedy. Her latest book is the biography The Real Sinéad O'Connor by White Owl Books.
