An increasing number of people are turning to artificial intelligence for skincare advice, from personalized routines to rash identification.
Users often share before-and-after photos on platforms like Reddit, seeking cheaper alternatives to professional dermatological consultations.
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However, experts warn that the advice provided by these chatbots is frequently inaccurate and can lead to adverse skin health outcomes.
AI's Limitations in Skincare
Dr Michelle Wong, a cosmetic chemist and science educator, compares chatbot output to "a blurry Jpeg of all the text on the web."
She notes that users rarely see what sources the AI uses, which could include user-generated forums or ill-evidenced blogs.
Wong has observed instances where chatbots instructed users to apply multiple products with the same active ingredients, like vitamin A, or recommended unusual application sequences.
In some cases, AI suggested nonexistent products or falsely claimed items were free of specific allergens.
"They're very confident liars," Wong says. "Try to remember it doesn't have a brain."
She points to previous research where an image-classification AI mistakenly associated rulers with skin cancer because training data frequently featured rulers next to malignant lesions.
Real-World Consequences
Dr Anita Lasocki, a dermatologist in Melbourne, has treated patients with skin issues triggered directly by chatbot recommendations.
"Most commonly I see irritant contact dermatitis or a flare-up of rosacea," she says, where patients layered too many steps or active ingredients hoping to solve their problem, but instead fueled it or created new complications.
