![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Seoul-Korea-800x420.jpg\")
Seoul, South Korea. <\/p>\n Seoul, South Korea. <\/p>\n
There are now hundreds, if not thousands, of AI apps that can create \u201cprofessional\u201d images from just a single photo of a person. The only problem? They\u2019re not real.<\/p>\n
As major news outlets found out when a few aired an AI-enhanced photo<\/a> of Minnesota shooting victim Alex Pretti, AI makes a novel image that closely resembles the source photo but will always add or remove certain features. <\/p>\n According to a report by Seoul Economic Daily<\/a>, the rise of AI is affecting the job market in South Korea where formal photos of applicants are expected to be submitted. Convention dictates that the jobseekers visit a photo studio, which can cost close to $100. AI photo services, meanwhile, cost just a fraction of that. <\/p>\n \u201cResume photos are small anyway, and I didn\u2019t notice much difference between heavily retouched studio photos and AI-generated ones,\u201d one worker named Lee, who found a job at a marketing firm last year, tells Seoul Economic Daily. <\/p>\n Another prospective employee says he has passed several document screenings at companies using an AI-generated profile photo. <\/p>\n \u201cThe purpose of a job photo is to convey a neat impression, and AI does this most efficiently,\u201d 27-year-old Kang tells Seoul Economic Daily. <\/p>\n But there are obvious problems: if a candidate arrives at the job interview looking different from the photo they\u2019ve provided, it can create confusion \u2014 which has actually happened. In fact some companies have started adding \u201cAI-generated photos prohibited\u201d to job listings. <\/p>\n There are also warnings that AI photos can be screened out. While AI image detectors are notoriously unreliable, it seems to have spooked some job hunters. <\/p>\n \u201cA 3,000-won [$2] AI app even composited a suit, and it looked perfect,\u201d says Lee. \u201cAfter seeing posts on online communities saying \u2018AI photos are filtered out during screening,\u2019 I ended up rebooking a studio session.\u201d<\/p>\n But what\u2019s clear is that AI photo apps are tempting for jobseekers: in October, a survey of 2,000 U.S. adults<\/a> found that 44% of them would consider using an AI headshot, and this is playing out in real life as professionals increasingly opt for the controversial images for LinkedIn or a CV.<\/p>\n