A TikToker who went viral using AI to guess what the Kardashians would look like without plastic surgery said he just wanted to share his love of tech

• A group of TikTokers have used AI to guess what the Kardashian family would look like without surgery.

• The video has led to online hatred against the family, as speculative content like this often does.

• One of the creators told Insider that he never intended to encourage judging.

A TikTok video that showed reimagined images of the Kardashians without any beauty enhancements exploded, but the negative response came as a shock to the creator, who just wanted to get people more interested in artificial intelligence.

The clip, which received 3.8 million views, was posted by Keith Lee, a 35-year-old content creator from Sydney, Australia, who co-created a live entertainment stream called “vandahoodlive” on several social media platforms, where the show’s hosts mix their love of technology with conversations about pop culture.

On September 17, the live streamers posted a clip from their show on TikTok, which showed them using AI software to predict what members of the Kardashian family would look like without cosmetic surgery.

Lee told Insider that he is extremely passionate about technology and artificial intelligence. He thinks the latest developments in the use of AI, from medical advances to celebrity deepfakes, are “about to get really, really crazy”, and the group thought talking about celebrities would be a way to interest more viewers in the artificial. intelligence.

“We started playing around with some concepts on the show. Simple things first, like seeing what celebrity babies would look like,” he said, adding, “then we came up with the idea for this. what would the Kardashians look like if they never sank the knife. Could we pull something like this off?”

Lee told Insider that the group spent a week researching the surgeries each of the celebrities had publicly stated and running images of them through multiple AI and editing apps — such as DeepFaceLive, Ebsynth and FaceTune — to produce an approximation of what they would have looked like without these procedures.

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Although Lee told Insider that the team made the video for “entertainment purposes only” and did not intend to insult the Kardashians, he said a handful of commenters reacted to the video with “strong opinions and absolutely wanting to demolish them”.

Some comments on the video began to speculate that some celebrities had done more work than others, with some people writing negative remarks. Other users, including some who say they work in the skincare industry, have used the video to add their own speculation about how many cosmetic surgeries celebrities have had.

“People were trying to use this video to embarrass them,” Lee said, adding “that was not our intention.”

Lee told Insider he wanted people to know that his team’s AI predictions are “definitely not factual” and weren’t meant to be used as a basis for people to speculate and vent their hate. to the Kardashians.

“Yes, of course, we play with the latest technology, but we are not doctors. We are not professionals, nor do we try to damage the image of anyone or anything. it’s like. I think the internet just needs to relax.” he said.

Reps for the Kardashian family did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.

Plastic surgery videos often go viral on TikTok, but there are fears they could violate a celebrity’s privacy

The #plasticsurgery hashtag has more than 15 billion views on TikTok, and the creators – some of whom are medical professionals – have cultivated many followers by commenting and speculating on cosmetic work involving celebrities, who are often publicly scrutinized. for their appearances.

But the genre is not free from criticism. In March, American rapper Doja Cat accused YouTube creator Lorry Hill of making up “lies” about her in a video where the YouTuber said she thought the rapper had had plastic surgery. Hill later deleted the video, saying in a written statement on his YouTube channel, “it’s never my intention to hurt anyone.”

Dr. Anthony Youn, a practicing plastic surgeon in Detroit who went viral in May for speculating about cosmetic procedures he thinks Johnny Depp and Amber Heard have already undergone, told Insider he’s “totally against judging anyone for the plastic surgery they’ve had,” even though such videos often lead to online hatred and vitriol against the subjects involved.

Youn also said he believed that by exposing cosmetic surgery he could help people avoid unrealistic beauty standards. “As a society, we’ve always been interested in whether celebrities have plastic surgery,” he said. “We’re led to believe they look as good as they naturally do, so it’s refreshing when we find out that they might not be so natural after all.”

Dr. Muneeb Shah, a dermatologist, told Insider last year that while it can be fun to speculate, people should be careful not to jump to conclusions about a celebrity’s personal life. “It’s up to us to practice respect and compassion for all people and bodies, always.”

For more stories like this, check out Insider’s digital literacy team coverage here.

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