Hyper-Realistic Beauty Filters Are Here to Stay超現實美顏濾鏡將繼續存在

泰特·瑞安-莫斯利/文　張梓晴/譯

A new filter on TikTok has the internet up in arms1. Its an important debate for anyone who cares about the future of social media. TikTok的一個新濾鏡在互聯網上引起了群情激憤。這對于任何一個關心社交媒體未來的人來說都是一場重要的辯論。

You might think that the latest viral example， the Bold Glamour beauty filter on TikTok， isnt relevant to you. But Id like to kindly disagree. Let me explain why we should all care about these sorts of augmented-reality2 （AR） filters， regardless of whether we use them or not.

最近一個名為Bold Glamour的美顏濾鏡在抖音海外版TikTok上爆火，你可能會認為這與你無關，但我不太認同你的想法，讓我解釋一下，為什么我們都應該關注這些增強現實濾鏡，無論我們是否使用它們。

The Bold Glamour filter contours your cheekbone and jawline in a sharp but subtle line. It also highlights the tip of your nose， the area under your eyebrows， and the apples of your cheeks. In addition， it lifts your eyebrows， applies a shimmer3 to your eyelids， and gives you thick， long， black eyelashes. It has， as the name implies， a glamorous effect.

Bold Glamour濾鏡能給你勾勒出清晰精致的顴骨和下頜線。它還能提亮你的鼻尖、眉下區域和蘋果肌。此外，它還能讓你的眉毛變得立體，把你的眼瞼涂亮，讓你擁有又濃、又長、又黑的睫毛。正如其名，它的效果大膽又迷人。

The aesthetic itself is impressive. However， the really amazing thing is how well it functions. The filter doesnt glitch4 when your face moves or if something like a waving hand interrupts the visual field， as filters usually do.

其美感本身是令人印象深刻的。然而，真正令人驚嘆的是它的強大功能。移動臉或者揮手擋臉，這個濾鏡都不會卡頓，而其他濾鏡會。

“You guys. This is a problem. You cant even tell its a filter anymore，” lamented user @rosaura_alvrz as she patted her face to test the filter in a review on TikTok.

“各位，這是個問題，你甚至再分辨不出這是濾鏡。”用戶@rosaura_alvrz輕輕拍了拍臉測試濾鏡，在TikTok上發視頻評論道。

Professional filter and AR creator Florencia Solari says Bold Glamour likely employs machine learning， and though its not the first time an AI filter has made waves， she says， “The experience with these filters is so seamless， and can achieve such a convincing level of reality， that its not a surprise people are freaking out.”

專業濾鏡和增強現實創作者弗洛倫西婭·索拉里表示，Bold Glamour很可能應用了機器學習，盡管這不是AI濾鏡第一次掀起波瀾，但她說，“這些濾鏡使用起來十分流暢，還可以達到如此令人信服的真實程度，人們會感到害怕也不奇怪。”

And， indeed， people are freaking out. So how concerned should we be about this distorted-reality world？

確實，人們都嚇壞了，那么，我們是否該對這種扭曲現實的世界抱有某種程度的擔憂？

First， some context. For years， augmented-reality filters on social media sites like Snap， Instagram， and TikTok have allowed users to easily edit their pictures and videos with preset characteristics that often perpetuate specific beauty standards like plump lips， hollow cheeks， thin noses， and wide eyes.

首先，介紹一下背景。多年來，色拉布、照片墻和TikTok等社交媒體平臺上的增強現實濾鏡讓用戶可以輕易編輯他們的照片和視頻，這些濾鏡預設的特征往往固守特定的審美標準，如豐厚唇、瓜子臉、挺鼻梁和大眼睛。

Beauty filters， in conjunction with influencer culture and algorithmic amplification， have led to a rapid narrowing of beauty standards in a way that prioritizes whiteness and thinness.

美顏濾鏡，加上網紅文化和算法增強，導致審美標準迅速走向單一，以白和瘦為美。

Young people love using filters （the latest numbers I have from Meta show that over 600 million people have used at least one of its AR products）， but theres minimal research into the effects on our mental health， identity， and behavior.

年輕人喜歡使用濾鏡（我從Meta公司獲得的最新數據顯示，超過 6 億人使用過它的至少一款增強現實產品），但關于濾鏡對我們心理健康、身份認同和行為的影響的研究卻很少。

The research that we do have indicates some serious risks. Girls are more likely than boys to use filters for beautification rather than for play starting at an early age， and social media is known to have negative effects on the mental health and body image of young people. According to a survey conducted by beauty brand Dove， 80% of girls had used filters or photo editing to change their appearance online by the age of 13.

這方面已有的研究表明，存在一些嚴重的風險。眾所周知，社交媒體會對青少年的心理健康和身體形象產生負面影響。女孩比男孩更有可能從小就出于美化目的而非為了好玩去使用濾鏡。根據美妝品牌多芬進行的一項調查，80%的女孩在13歲前曾使用濾鏡或照片編輯來改變自己在網上的外表。

Still， filters have been around for years. So why are we talking about this now？ Bold Glamour could usher in a new age of high-tech， hyper-realistic beauty filters.

盡管如此，濾鏡已存在多年。為什么我們現在才討論這個問題呢？Bold Glamour可能會開創一個高科技、超現實美顏濾鏡的新時代。

Were likely to see these filters increasingly make use of recent advances in machine learning， specifically generative adversarial networks5 （known as GANs）， in combination with the facial detection technology thats standard to face filters. The results are so ultra-realistic its going to become harder and harder to distinguish whats real from whats not.

我們可能會看到這些濾鏡越來越多地應用機器學習領域的最新技術，特別是生成對抗網絡，與人臉濾鏡標配的面部檢測技術相結合。其效果極其逼真，以至于辨別真假將變得越來越難。

In February 2023， TikTok released new generative AI tools that help people create filters for the platform， though the company would not tell us whether Bold Glamour does indeed make use of generative AI.

2023 年 2 月，TikTok 發布了新的生成式AI工具，幫助人們為平臺創作濾鏡，但該公司不愿透露Bold Glamour是否真的使用了生成式AI。

Rather than answering our questions， a TikTok spokesperson provided a statement that read， “Being true to yourself is celebrated and encouraged on TikTok. Creative Effects are a part of what makes it fun to create content， empowering self-expression and creativity. Transparency is built into the effect experience， as all videos using them are clearly marked by default.”

TikTok 發言人沒有回答我們的問題，而是發表了一份聲明：“TikTok贊賞和鼓勵做真實的自己。創意特效是讓內容創作變有趣的方式之一，它為表達自我和創造力賦能。透明性已融入特效中，所有使用了濾鏡的視頻都默認帶有清晰的標記。”

But theres a fraught debate about whether filters enable self-expression or cause users， particularly young girls， to hold themselves to unattainable ideals. Florencia Solari， the professional filter creator， has thought about this a lot.

但是，濾鏡是能讓用戶表達自我，還是讓用戶尤其是年輕女孩追求無法實現的理想——人們對此還爭論不休。專業濾鏡創作者弗洛倫西婭·索拉里對此也有過很多思考。

“As a technologist， I see this as part of the natural evolution of filters as a whole… if we look at this in terms of innovation， its really exciting that were able to build this kind of thing，” she says. But as generative AI finds its way into more parts of our lives， having serious discussions about its impacts is also important.

她說：“作為一名技術人員，我認為這是濾鏡自然進化整個過程中的一步……從創新的角度看，我們能夠創造出這樣的東西確實令人興奮。”但隨著生成式AI進入我們生活的更多領域，認真討論其影響也很重要。

“Its good that people are freaking out. Its raising awareness. Is that really beauty？ Do we really want young girls to dream about becoming the clone of a clone？” she asks.

“人們感到害怕是件好事。這將提升人們的認知。這真的是美嗎？我們真的希望年輕女孩的夢想是成為克隆人的克隆人嗎？”她問道。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）

1 up in arms極力反對；強烈抗議。? 2 augmented-reality：增強現實，簡稱AR，是將計算機生成的虛擬世界疊加在現實世界上的一種技術。? 3 shimmer閃爍的光。

4 glitch小差錯；小故障。

5生成對抗網絡，全稱Generative Adversarial Networks，是一種深度學習架構，由兩個互相對抗的神經網絡組成，分別是生成器（Generator）和判別器（Discriminator）。