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AI Models Could Harm Young People’s Body Image, Experts Warn

Experts say idealised AI-generated imagery could add to appearance pressures on young people. Here is what the reporting suggests—and what it does not establish.

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Experts warn that idealised AI-generated people in advertising and on social media could add to young people’s exposure to narrow appearance ideals. But the available reporting raises a concern; it does not establish that seeing AI models causes body-image harm.

Why AI-generated models raise a body-image concern

AI-generated people can be made to show appearances that do not exist in biological reality. Phillippa Diedrichs, professor of psychology at the Centre for Appearance Research at UWE Bristol, told BBC News that comparing ourselves with narrowly defined beauty ideals can leave us doubting ourselves and feeling negatively about our appearance.

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“We compare ourselves and when we fall short, this can lead us to doubt ourselves and feel negatively about our own appearance,” Diedrichs said in the BBC’s 4 October 2026 report. That offers a plausible reason for concern about highly polished synthetic images, not proof that AI images cause a particular outcome.

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Mia Perumal, a 19-year-old Cardiff University student who has recovered from an eating disorder, said she believes encountering AI imagery during her illness would have had a “terrible impact.” She also cautioned against assuming that knowing an image is artificial removes its emotional force: “It’s all very well saying ‘oh, it’s AI, it’s not real,’ But eating disorders don’t really listen to rationality.” Her account is personal testimony, not clinical evidence about young people as a group.

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What the reporting does—and does not—show

The BBC report draws on interviews, expert commentary and a summary of consumer research by Cardiff Business School researchers Zoe Lee and Hannah Marriott. It does not establish a causal effect of AI-generated imagery on young people’s body image, provide a prevalence estimate, or quantify an effect size.

In the BBC’s summary, consumers often reacted negatively after learning that fashion models were AI-generated. Some focus-group participants preferred fewer real models to a larger number of artificial representations; one formulation was that they would “rather have a real person and way less people representing us, but they be real”. Marriott said some participants emotionally detached from images once they learned they were AI-generated. The report does not state the underlying study’s sample size, methods or publication details, so these findings should not be treated as representative of all consumers or young viewers.

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AI imagery could widen representation—or repeat narrow ideals

Synthetic imagery is not inevitably less diverse than photography. Diedrichs described a possible countervailing use: brands could deliberately generate advertising images featuring a wider range of bodies and appearances. She said that comparing ourselves with people who feel more similar can have a neutral or positive effect on wellbeing.

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The outcome depends on how images are made and used. Without deliberate prompting, image generation may reproduce narrow standards and leave out less represented features. When assessing a campaign, relevant questions include whether its people look varied and realistic, whether viewers know the images are AI-generated, and whether people whose likenesses are used retain control and ownership. Young viewers’ own responses also matter: representation that looks diverse on paper may still leave someone feeling worse about their appearance.

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What to do if an image leaves you feeling worse

Diedrichs suggests paying attention to how an advert or image affects you. “If it’s making you feel lacking, that’s a really important signal to pay attention to, and suggests that maybe this isn’t for me to be looking at.” She also says people can tell brands what they think of the imagery. These are practical suggestions from the expert, not treatment advice.

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What is known about H&M’s digital models

The BBC reported that H&M worked with real models in 2025 to create digital representations, or “twins”, with the models retaining control and ownership. The report said this exploration was paused during spring 2025. This status is based on the BBC’s reporting and should not be read as a claim about H&M’s current plans.

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