We Tested AI Headshots — On Ourselves and a Real Client
Two real-world tests: our own selfie run through three AI headshot generators, and a real client’s AI-generated headshot compared to the session our studio actually shot with him. No hypotheticals — just what happened.
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We Ran Our Own Selfie Through 3 AI Headshot Apps
Same starting photo, three different AI generators, three different results — and none of them looked like the actual person.
(the input photo)
Microsoft Copilot
The face is smoothed with no wrinkles left at all. The eyes don’t look real — there’s no actual engagement behind them. The smile reads as unnatural, like an expression pasted on rather than one that happened.
ChatGPT
The skin is smoothed, and both the neck and face have been narrowed from how they actually look. Wrinkles have been excessively removed — not softened, erased.
A Third AI Headshot App
This one added an unnatural tan, brightened the eyes past what looks real, narrowed the face and neck, added cheekbones that aren’t actually there, and applied what looks like makeup around the eyes — all changes nobody asked for.
All three came from the exact same selfie. None of them look like the actual person. Each app made its own uninvited decisions about the face — smoothing, narrowing, brightening, adding features that were never there — with no conversation, no direction, and no chance to say “actually, don’t change that.”
A Real Client: AI Headshot vs. Our Studio Session
One of our clients tried an AI headshot generator before coming to us. Here’s the AI version, next to the real session we shot with him.
Shari Photography
In the ChatGPT version, the client’s face has been smoothed and noticeably narrowed. His expressions across the whole series don’t look natural to him — they don’t match how he actually presents himself. In the real session, every retouching decision was made in consultation with him and approved in person, down to individual choices about specific blemishes and wrinkles.
The Collaboration Is the Whole Point
Every AI app in this test made changes to a face with zero conversation about what should change. That’s the actual, structural difference between an app and a real photographer — not just image quality, but a process built entirely around one person’s specific face and what they actually want.
Before the Session
The collaboration starts before anyone sets foot in the studio — emails and phone calls to talk through the goals for the session, wardrobe ideas, and the branded look the client wants to project.
During the Session
Real-time direction — posing, expression, wardrobe changes — adjusted in the room based on what’s actually working, not generated blind from a handful of old selfies.
The Retouching Conversation
This is where the real difference shows up. Retouching decisions are discussed with the client directly, down to specifics: should this blemish be removed? Should this wrinkle be softened, or left alone because it’s part of how they actually look? Every change is specific to that person’s face and approved by them — not applied automatically by an algorithm with no idea who they are.
After the Session
The relationship doesn’t end when the client walks out. It continues through the retouching phase, with final images reviewed and approved before delivery.
No AI headshot app does any of this. There’s no consultation about your brand, no conversation about what should or shouldn’t change on your face, and no chance to approve anything before it’s generated. You get whatever the algorithm decided — smoothed, narrowed, brightened, or altered in ways you never asked for and can’t undo. A real session is built around you from the first email to the final delivered image.
This Isn’t Just Two Examples
What you just saw lines up with what the broader research says about AI-generated faces generally:
Sources: Ringover, 2024 (1,087 recruiters) · Fractl / Search Engine Land, Q2 2026
Read the full research behind this on our main comparison page, or see what a real session offers for your specific situation on our LinkedIn, acting, or corporate team pages.
Human First. Always.
See what a real, collaborative session looks like. Sessions available 7 days a week at our St. Louis studio.
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