Lensa: The Controversial AI App That Turns Your Selfies into Art

Have you ever wondered what you would look like as a fairy princess, an anime character, or a cosmic being? If so, you might want to check out Lensa, an app that uses artificial intelligence to transform your selfies into stunning portraits.

Introduction

Lensa is a product of Prisma, a company that first gained popularity in 2016 with an app that allowed users to turn their photos into artworks inspired by famous artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, and Munch.

In November 2022, Lensa launched a new feature called “Magic Avatars”, which lets users generate up to 200 different portraits based on their selfies.

Source: Screenshot of Lensa App

To use the feature, users need to download the Lensa app on their phone and sign up for a subscription or a free trial. The subscription costs $35.99 per year and the free trial lasts for a week.

Then, they need to upload 10 to 20 selfies with different backgrounds, expressions, and angles. The app then uses its AI algorithms to create portraits in various styles, such as fantasy, fairy princess, focus, pop, stylish, anime, light, kawaii, iridescent, and cosmic.

The portraits are highly stylized and eye-catching, and users can share them on social media or use them as profile pictures or wallpapers. According to the app’s website, the portraits are meant to “showcase your personality and uniqueness”.

Some of the portraits are realistic and resemble the original selfies, while others are more abstract and artistic. Some of the portraits also have special effects such as glitter, sparkles, or flames.

Raising Questions

However, not everyone is happy with the app and its results. Some users have noticed that the app makes their skin lighter or their bodies thinner. That can be seen as problematic and insensitive.

For example, one user tweeted: “Lensa AI made me look like a white girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. I’m Asian. This is not okay.”

Some digital artists have also accused the app of stealing their work and using it as filters without their permission or credit.

For example, one artist tweeted: “Lensa AI used my artwork as a filter without asking me or paying me. This is theft and plagiarism.”

Some privacy experts have also raised concerns about how the app uses and stores the user-provided photos and face data.

For example, one expert tweeted: “Lensa AI collects your face data and uses it to train their algorithms. They also store your photos on their servers. This is a huge privacy risk.”

Lensa claims that it:

• respects the rights and privacy of its users. It does not sell or share their data with third parties.
• uses TrueDepth API technology to train its algorithms. It only uses the photos for generating portraits and not for any other purposes.
• does not intend to offend or harm anyone with its portraits. It welcomes feedback and suggestions from its users.
• follows the terms of use of Prisma Labs, which state that users own all the rights to the avatars they generate through the app.

Lensa is one of the many apps that use AI to create artistic images based on photos. It shows how AI can be used as a tool for creativity and expression, but also how it can raise ethical and legal issues.

Conclusion

Whether you love it or hate it, Lensa is certainly an app that has captured the attention of many people.

It remains to be seen how the app will evolve and respond to the challenges and opportunities ahead.