What does the advancement of AI mean for the future of the arts, music, and fashion? Will robots come for our creative industries? Could a machine ever dream like a human can? This week on Dazed, with our new campaign AGE OF AI, we’re aiming to find out. 

Are we ready for Siri-fied Sephora? With the help of AI, the future of beauty is about to get technological. These six beauty innovations are using the markers of artificial intelligence – machine learning, facial recognition, and data learning or data-searching algorithms – in a bid to accelerate our quest for radiant skin and perfect lashes.  

What these new tech innovations promise is a world in which beauty products come with absolute certainty. With the help of AI, the idea is that you will no longer have to wonder if your make-up, hair care, or skincare products are right for you – according to the bots, you’ll know it.

PROVEN

Skincare company Proven is on a mission to make precise, pristine skincare accessible to even those who don’t have the time to go into rabbit holes of online research. The system requires you to complete a skincare assessment, then it’ll send you a totally personalised data-driven ‘super skincare’ product that gets delivered to your doorstep. According to their website, “There's good reason to believe that modern deep learning is the first technology with a real chance at untangling the complex dynamics that govern how and why beauty products work or fail.” 

FUNCTION OF BEAUTY

Function of Beauty creates customised shampoos and conditioners using big data and machine learning. Similar to Proven, you enter in your hair type, hair structure, and hair goals on their website. All that information is then put through an algorithm that spits out your perfect haircare.

MIRA

Still in the beta phase, this mobile app uses AI to find and recommend beauty influencers, images, and tutorial videos that address your specific eye shape and complexion. It’s being created by a beauty/ tech super squad from Stanford, MIT, and Facebook,and backed by Emily Weiss of Glossier. Watch this space.

CUROLOGY

Curology provides customised online acne care using machine learning. As with most of these apps, users send a selfie and fill out a questionnaire; then, you're matched with a medical professional who designs custom formulas (aka a skincare ‘superbottle’) to target your individual skincare needs. It’s the classic 2018 dilemma: do I want to protect my data, or do I want perfect skin?

HELLO AVA

Combining AI methods with an in-person consultation, Hello Ava helps customers find products with safe ingredients that are suited for each person’s skincare needs. Their chatbot asks you questions about your lifestyle, products you like, and skin type. Afterwards, a digital image of your face is sent to an in-person advisor, who does further personal consultations virtually. I don't know how I feel about sending a stranger snaps of my face, but if it’ll give me that ‘glass skin’ that’s everywhere in K-beauty, I’m all for it.

BEAUTY MATCHES

My Beauty Matches is a secret weapon that provides personalised and impartial recommendations and price comparisons, basically helping the user to find any type of beauty product they need. The algorithm was built using machine learning, and possesses the world’s largest database of beauty product insights. From their database of over 400,000 products, you simply have to enter your specific requirements (night serum? Concealer? Snail face mask?) and the algorithm will find your best and cheapest options. I don't know about you, but I’m swallowing the red pill for this one.