This article examines the role and impact of artificial intelligence in beauty. We will begin by introducing this discussion and then explore the trends, opportunities and challenges associated AI in beauty.
The beauty industry is one of the industries with high turnover. As shown in the figure below, it is predicted that the volume of this market will reach $768 billion by 2029 (source: statista).
This market size has created a lot of interest among entrepreneurs in this industry. Various technologies and cutting-edge knowledge are quickly being adopted industry to capture a larger share of the market. This is where artificial intelligence comes in.
AI in Beauty: The Latest Trends and Innovations
Neural networks and artificial intelligence have been studied and used in universities and industrial for years. But the emergence of products such as ChatGPT has made this concept one of the most widely used words in the daily lives of the general public.
Right now, as I am writing this article or as you are reading it, you must have been in contact with tools and concepts related to artificial intelligence during the week.
Perhaps you have used one of these tools without knowing it.
The goal of artificial intelligence is to create the ability for systems to think, make decisions, and even take specific actions instead of humans. Wow !!!
This could create a huge revolution in any industry. Imagine an artificial intelligence sitting next to you and performing many of your daily tasks and creative activities. An intelligence that has access to the largest data and scientific, research, and applied resources in the world.
Although we are still at the beginning of the path, the growth rate of this technology is so high that it is predicted that in the near future (five years) there will be dramatic changes in many industries.
Returning to the first discussion, artificial intelligence in beauty ….
Beauty Digital Marketing and AI
My main expertise is digital advertising. I continuously design and implement Google Ads campaigns, especially for the beauty industry. In 2024, Google specifically introduced its AI capability for designing campaigns.
This capability can design advertising campaigns based on your desired topic. Also, creating appropriate videos and texts using AI is one of the capabilities of this system.
As a beauty entrepreneur, you can entrust all your campaign design work to AI. Of course, it is still a bit early. But I think this project will be out of experimental mode by the end of 2025 and will surprise everyone.
Suppose you no longer need a copywriter. To produce content, your need for a designer’s human resources will be reduced. To produce a video, you just need to give your needs and AI will prepare an attractive advertising video and animation for you. Activities that in the past (I mean the past, just a year or two ago!!!), required hours of time and a lot of costs along with the need for human resources.
Smart Human Resources with AI in Beauty
One of the important functions of artificial intelligence is to make human resources smart. As an active entrepreneur in the beauty industry, you will use artificial intelligence robots in many parts of your production line in the near future.
Also, if you work as a beauty salon manager, you can entrust many of your human resources-related matters to artificial intelligence systems. From performance evaluation to quality monitoring of activities, they can be done by artificial intelligence. Especially in branch salons that consider compliance with the same standards as an advantage for themselves.
Personalizing beauty services with AI
All humans are interested in companies making time for them. When industries moved towards mass production of products and services (mass production) using the benefits of industrialization, this need of customers was less considered.
But the advent of artificial intelligence can change everything to a personalized mode. Artificial intelligence can analyze customers of beauty services and, based on billions of knowledge and data available, provide the best services tailored to the individual’s needs.
Suppose you want to dye your hair. You don’t know what color suits you. You can ask this system to make suggestions tailored to you by providing information about yourself (such as image, gender, age, social status, etc.) as well as your needs to artificial intelligence systems. You can review and improve different suggestions, and all this is done without human intervention.
You used to do these actions empirically, but with artificial intelligence based on millions of experiences and billions of data, you can do this process with very high accuracy.
Artificial Intelligence for Beauty Products
A variety of brands are using AI to produce their products. These brands are trying to improve their products or create new and innovative products using AI. The table below presents some of these brands and the type of use of artificial intelligence in their products:
| Brand | Use of Artificial Intelligence | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Sephora | Uses Virtual Try-On and machine learning for personalized suggestions | Virtual shopping experience for trying products and personalized recommendations based on user behavior |
| Nivea | Nivea Skin Guide to analyze skin conditions and offer personalized solutions | Skin analysis with selfie submissions and tailored skincare recommendations |
| MAC Cosmetics | Uses AR and AI for virtual product try-ons | Creates personalized profiles for customers and provides customized offers using QR codes |
| Estee Lauder | Uses AI for skincare and fragrance product recommendations | iMatch for analyzing selfies and recommending skincare, olfactory science and machine learning for fragrances |
| L’Oreal | Uses HAPTA to assist people with limited hand mobility in makeup application | Designs devices for automatic makeup and personalized lipstick colors with Perso |
| Ulta Beauty | Uses GLAMLab and invests in AI to enhance the shopping experience | Combines online and in-store shopping with new technology for personalized services |
source: banuba
AI in Beauty: challenges
The challenges of AI are similar in many industries. However, the beauty industry also has challenges in using AI, which we will discuss below:
- Job Challenges: Many people are concerned that they will lose their jobs with the advent of AI. This is one of the major challenges in the field of AI in various industries.
- Ethical Issues: Many believe that the use of AI requires new regulations to comply with ethical principles and privacy.
- Calculation errors : AI is in the early stages of its development and is certainly subject to errors. These errors can sometimes lead to harm to people’s health.
- Accountability and Transparency Control: Many companies in the beauty industry are using artificial intelligence to personalize services. But it is unclear what human and ethical policies are being taken into account in the wake of this use. An issue that raises the need for greater transparency and accountability in this area.
AI in Beauty: Opportunities
Despite the challenges raised, it can be said that artificial intelligence can bring about many changes in the beauty industry. Many opportunities are seen in this integration, some of which I will discuss below:
- Cost reduction: Artificial intelligence will significantly reduce costs in the areas of marketing, human resources, finance, and internal processes in the beauty industry.
- Personalization of services and products: As mentioned, using artificial intelligence, we can provide personalized services and products to customers, which will increase loyalty and repeat purchases.
- Process automation: Using artificial intelligence, many everyday tasks can be automated.
- Increased creativity: Using artificial intelligence helps us use more creative tools to carry out tasks.
- Production of innovative products: Artificial intelligence can increase the production of innovative products with a combination of existing knowledge and data.
better or worse, we are facing a technology that is predicted to transform entire industries in the short term. Artificial intelligence affects everything from humans to tools and processes. It is better to make optimal use of this technology by properly understanding its functions, challenges and opportunities. So, let’s move on to AI in Beauty.
Dr. Mehran Shirzad
Diginoron Manager
