Tinder pauses AI Photo Enhance tool after users report unsettling changes to their faces

Tinder Pauses AI Photo Editing Tool After Woman Creeped Out By It

The dating app Tinder has paused an AI-powered photo enhancement tool after it began editing users' photos automatically and unsettling people. Jeni Rubin tells NewsNation that she logged into the app for the first time in a month when she received a notification that Tinder's 'Photo Enhance' feature had worked on one of her profile photos. Curious, Rubin took a look at the AI edit and was horrified by what she saw. "It felt pretty uncanny, to be honest. Those are not my teeth. That's not what my mouth looks like," Rubin tells Jesse Weber Live. Rubin says she was so freaked out by the AI photo edit that she made a TikTok about it and received replies from Tinder users who had had similar experiences. "I had a lot of comments from folks either saying that the same thing happened to them, or they were on other dating apps that had similarly weird AI features," Rubin says. Tinder says that the Photo Enhance feature makes profile photos "clearer and better lit -- not to make you look different." However, most AI image generators work by taking the source photo -- in this case Rubin's Tinder photo -- and then using that photo as a prompt for the AI image model. While AI image generators have come on leaps and bounds in terms of photorealism, they still ultimately spit out a novel image. And when that image is of a human face, it is easy to spot the flaws or minute changes. "I think at first, when I saw that they had enhanced the photo without me opting in, and it was just something that had been turned on for me, I was like, 'Well, let me see what this is about.' But after seeing the photo, I was extremely put off by the feature," adds Rubin. Per NBC News, Tinder says the Photo Enhance tool affected a small number of users and they have since paused the rollout. Tech companies appear desperate to get people interested in their AI features. However, as this case illustrates, many are simply not interested. Yesterday, PetaPixel reported on Google Photos quietly shelving its "Me Meme" feature, which took users' photos and turned them into a meme. Image creditsHeader photo licensed via Depositphotos.

Tinder pauses AI Photo Enhance tool after complaints

Tinder has paused an AI-powered Photo Enhance tool that some users said altered their appearance, NewsNation reported. Former user Jenny Rubin told NewsNation that the tool edited her photo without her opting in. "It was extremely violating," she told NewsNation's Jesse Weber. "It felt pretty uncanny, to be honest. Those are not my teeth. That's not what my mouth looks like." Tinder had apparently changed the photo of her from a toothless smile to one with teeth. Rubin deleted the app and made a TikTok about it, and others told her the app did the same thing. Tinder users also told NBC News that the app changed facial features and even skin tone, and also added features that weren't previously there. "Photo Enhance is a tool that helps improve the technical quality of your photos. It's designed to enhance overall photo quality -- for example, making your profile photo clearer and better lit -- not to make you look different," Tinder's page on Photo Enhance states. The feature is supposed to "sharpen blurry images, adjust brightness and exposure, and improve clarity," the page reads. "It's not designed to add or remove people, objects, or backgrounds, apply cosmetic effects, or change facial features or skin tone appearance." A Tinder spokesperson reiterated that the feature isn't designed to change someone's appearance. "We know that profiles with clear, well-lit first photos have a much better experience, so our goal was to help make that easier for people on Tinder. The feature is in a test phase in limited markets and is available to a subset of profiles that had a detectable technical issue on the first photo, and more than 90 percent of people who receive an enhanced photo keep it," the spokesperson told Mashable over email. According to the page, the suggested enhancement can be disabled, and the photo can be reverted to its original. Tinder introduced the feature in March, along with a ton of other AI-powered features, including a matchmaker called Chemistry. At the same time, Tinder launched Photo Insights, which uses AI to scan users' camera rolls to determine interests based on patterns. The app previously introduced Photo Selector, an AI tool to help pick the best photos for a user's profile, in 2024. Photo Enhanced is now paused in the 13 U.S. states where it was available. Tinder told NBC News and Mashable that the unintended changes impacted a small number of users. "Feedback data shows less than 0.5 percent of enhanced photos were flagged as not looking like the user, though not all of that feedback reflects a change as visible as what's been reported," the spokesperson told Mashable. It's paused to investigate the causes and strengthen safeguards.