Galaxy AI’s New Photo Editing Features Will Amplify Social Media’s Inauthenticity Problem

At Samsung on February 25 Galaxy Unpacked Eventthe company introduced new Galaxy AI features, including call screening and camera upgrades. But what stood out to me the most were the AI ​​generative photo editing features, like Photo Assist.

“It doesn’t just let you delete what was there,” said Mason Page, of Samsung’s product marketing team. “It helps you add what should I went there.”

Don’t like the clothes you wore in this photo? Ask Galaxy AI to change your adjustment! I wish your dog was here in this cafe with you? Manifest a corgi with the power of AI!

You are no longer limited to removing unwanted elements from your photos. You can now adjust broader aspects of the images themselves.

It’s tempting, easy and completely inauthentic.

Listen, I understand. Sometimes you just want to fix a photo. When I got engaged a few years ago, the only proposal photo my current wife and I had was of me asking her to marry me while a stranger stood uncomfortably close between us – interrupting and intruding on our special moment. We tried all the simple AI-based erase tools to remove the alien from the photo, but nothing really worked.

But AI photo and video editing tools are not harmless. Grok is the originator of a there are an estimated millions of non-consensual deepfake images and videosultimately leading to a EU investigation. Fraudsters are turning to celebrity likenesses to fuel their campaigns. AI-generated scamsand there is an ocean of AI slope drown the Internet. The expansion of AI tools and capabilities makes it ever easier to use it for harmful purposes.

Introducing the ability to add big features with AI is a different story than just removing small details. What particularly worries me is how these tools will interact with social media – particularly how they seem poised to amplify existing issues around mental health and self-image.

The endless pursuit of unrealistic expectations

One of the problems with social media is that it can implicitly foster a very curated picture of a person’s life, focused almost exclusively on positive experiences. A post about a major event or a fun trip can trigger a rash of positive likes and comments, which may inspire someone to be more selective and post only about the highlights of their life.

A 2023 study by Ruhr University Bochum in Germany examined the relationship between photo editing and self-esteem on social media. The authors wrote: “The depiction of reality is usually not a documentary but part of a narrative that the photo editor intends to project onto the public screen. »

The gap between reality and expectations can weigh particularly heavily on young adults.

A 2024 study by the Universidad Europa de Madrid examined the relationship between social media use and physical measures of self-esteem. “The blurred line between reality and digitally enhanced representations leads individuals to have unrealistic expectations about their bodies and their lifestyle,” the researchers wrote. “The impact is particularly pronounced among adolescents and young adults who are more susceptible to social media influences and are at a critical developmental stage regarding self-identity and body image.”

The gap between a social post and reality can already be very blurred with basic tools like filters and the good old process of taking a million photos in search of that “perfect” photo. But the examples of modification or addition of major elements provided by Galaxy AI raise the question of the distinction between reality and fabrication.

It’s one thing to wonder how many selfies someone took before finding the most flattering angle. It’s another thing entirely to wonder if this person even owns the outfit they’re wearing. While it is not inherently dangerous for someone to swap the style of their clothing in a photo, the availability of these tools invites a situation in which everyone is competing to create a better, more impressive “impossible” image.

But the companies behind these tools are not talking about the consequences. (Samsung didn’t even bother to mention AI when talking about his environmental initiatives.) Yet when it comes to young adults trying to navigate the line between online perfection and reality, the consequences are significant.

“The perceived insurmountable gap between oneself and refined images online fosters[s] feelings of inadequacy and uselessness,” wrote the researchers from the Europa University of Madrid.

The world, and the Internet in particular, is already very effective at stirring up these feelings. And the more we allow people to fundamentally alter images, the more they will feel like they cannot meet expectations that are not grounded in reality. This is already a problem, and new tools and features will only make it worse.

What is the solution?

Parents who can talk to teens about social media use and set lasting limits may be able to mitigate the downsides.

The American Psychological Association reported in 2023 that “teens and young adults who reduced their social media use by 50% for just a few weeks saw significant improvement in their perception of their weight and overall appearance,” compared to their peers who continued to use social media normally.

The biggest battle is fighting the ideas and behaviors that lie behind these unattainable standards.

“Fostering a digital environment that values ​​authenticity over perfection and well-being over appearances is crucial to mitigating the negative impacts of self-presentation on social media,” wrote researchers from Europe University in Madrid.

Ultimately, my wife and I gave up trying to remove the stranger from our engagement photo. Their presence was unwelcome and distracting, but it was also part of the moment – ​​a moment we try to laugh about now. We have professional photos of our prospective wedding, which thankfully went well and are free of strangers.

But the proposal photo captures the true story of that day: the authentic mix of joy and weirdness of that moment, something these AI tools can’t generate.