Perceptions of AI-generated profile pictures: Effects on quality, attractiveness, and trustworthiness

This study investigates perceptions of AI-generated profile pictures and how disclosure of AI use shapes impressions. In a preregistered experiment, U.S. adults (N = 817; ages 18–99, M = 47.83, SD = 18.79; 48% men and 50% women) evaluated what they were told were social media profile pictures. The 2 × 2 factorial design varied whether images, all with a professional headshot style, were AI-generated and whether they were disclosed as AI-generated. Across three outcomes, AI-generated images were rated as higher quality than professional photos of the same subjects, but disclosure that an image was AI-generated reduced perceived quality. On average, AI generation and disclosure did not significantly affect perceptions of the person's social attractiveness or trustworthiness. Exploratory analyses indicated that self-assessed AI knowledge moderated responses to disclosure: lower-knowledge respondents downgraded labeled images and the depicted person, whereas higher-knowledge respondents evaluated labeled images and the person more positively. Taken together, the findings suggest that disclosure of AI use primarily affects evaluations of the image as an object rather than person-level impressions.