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.