Would I be more likely to turn to Botox or more natural ageing treatments by seeing AI’s version of my older self?Would I be more likely to turn to Botox or more natural ageing treatments by seeing AI’s version of my older self? Would I be more likely to turn to Botox or more natural ageing treatments by seeing AI’s version of my older self?
There’s nothing more attractive than someone who can wear their age well. While society idolizes youth and normalizes young people getting preventative treatments to “stay young,” some argue it’s having the opposite effect — making 20-year-olds look 30. I’m one of those people who believe in ageing gracefully.
Fillers are frightening to me, but will I regret not getting them when I’m 50? I thought I’d ask artificial intelligence, with all that it can do. I’ve used it to change my hair color, predict my future baby’s face and create headshots. Surely it can show me a realistic version of my aged face.
A quick search for “old age face app” in the App Store led me to FaceApp, which has been around since way before AI was cool. The Cyprus-based FaceApp Technology launched the app in 2017, allowing you to transform your face with old and young filters.
FaceApp is accessible for free, but there are feature limitations. For premium filters, no watermarks and faster processing, upgrade to FaceApp Pro. It’s $10 per month, or if you pay for the 12 months in full, it’s $5 per month. There’s a one-week free trial available.
I’m happy to pay $10 to save me a lifetime with wrinkles, but I started with the free version.
Getting set up with FaceApp AI
I was in no state to take a selfie, so I chose a few photos from my camera roll. Given AI apps are usually picky with photo quality, I selected four to upload.
Once I uploaded the images, it instantly added the FaceApp watermark to each one, given I was on the free plan. The features were easy to find, with a simple banner of prompts to select. I could change my face size, skin, expression, hair, gender and age.
I clicked on Age and it had eight face prompts available, from young to teen to old. I picked “cool old” first to soften the blow. Baby steps.
First impression? I’m wearing too much makeup. Oh, and I look like my grandma.
Now onto the second.
What this one nailed was the vertical line between my eyebrows and my crow’s feet. My dad has these lines and he’s 70. He’s also got a full head of hair, so it’s good to see my AI old age filter with fab hair.
Onto the third try.
This one’s not bad at all.
Onto the lucky last.
Ageing with that hair? Not bad at all.
Asking AI for advice on ageing
While it’s fun to see how AI predicts I’ll age, I wanted to take it further to get feedback on what I can do about it. Can ChatGPT tell me my problem areas and suggest a skin care regimen?
I opened ChatGPT and uploaded the four old-age images from FaceApp with this prompt:
“Here are four AI-generated old age filter photos of me. This is how AI predicts I’ll age. Based on the visible aging in these photos, identify the problem areas and provide a personalized regime that I can do now, to avoid my skin aging to this extent. I don’t want generic advice.”
ChatGPT gave me the standard skin care routine advice, but did put an emphasis on a vitamin C serum in the morning to brighten the skin and vitamin A in the evening.
For preventive treatments, it suggested microneedling, laser therapy, chemical peels and Botox. I asked ChatGPT if I needed Botox or if good skin care would suffice.
ChatGPT suggested to see how my skin responds to good skincare over the next two years and if dynamic lines deepen, it’s time for Botox. Ouch.
Given that I’m nontox obsessed, I asked ChatGPT if there’s a natural alternative to Botox. It gave me some options such as facial acupuncture, natural wrinkle relaxers (bakuchiol, argireline and aloe vera), a collagen-rich diet and noninvasive treatments like microcurrent devices and LED light therapy.
I asked what the most natural cosmetic procedures are, and I got this list:
- Microneedling
- PRP therapy
- LED light therapy
- RF therapy
- Microcurrent therapy
- Nontox dermaplaning
- Oxygen facials
- Organic chemical peels
- Natural fat transfer
To summarize, ChatGPT suggested three top nontox treatments based on my photos:
The verdict on AI and predicting how you’ll age
It’s handy to be able to use AI to get a sense of how I’ll age, then put it into a chatbot to talk through preventive strategies. While AI image generators might be way off, it can help with the decisions I make now in how I care for my skin and hair — though you should definitely speak to a dermatologist before making any decisions.
Maybe I just need to age with dignity and change my mindset, not my face. Hopefully by the time I’m 60, society will have caught up to the fact that there’s beauty to celebrate at every age.