Ep 300 – Meet ChatGPT, the New Esthetician in Town

Summary

ASCP Esty Talk: Episode 300 – Meet ChatGPT, the New Esthetician in Town

Release Date: January 22, 2025

In the milestone 300th episode of ASCP Esty Talk, hosts Maggie Stasik and Ella Cressman dive deep into the burgeoning role of artificial intelligence, specifically ChatGPT, in the esthetician industry. This episode explores the intersection of technology and skincare, analyzing both the potential benefits and inherent challenges that AI brings to skincare professionals and their clients.

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1. The Viral Phenomenon of AI-Generated Skincare Routines

The episode opens with Maggie recounting a viral story that caught her attention on LinkedIn. A 37-year-old woman reportedly used ChatGPT, prompting it to act as a professional dermatologist and esthetician to craft a personalized skincare routine. The result? Impressive before-and-after photos showcasing noticeably improved skin.

Maggie (B) [01:12]: "So Ella, across my thread on social LinkedIn there was this article people were commenting on. This 37 year old woman went to ChatGPT and prompted Chat GPT to be a professional dermatologist slash esthetician and create a skincare routine for her."

This anecdote highlights the growing trend of individuals turning to AI for personalized skincare advice, raising questions about the reliability and effectiveness of such technology.

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2. Experimenting with ChatGPT: A Personal Journey

Intrigued by the viral success, Maggie decides to test ChatGPT herself, following the same prompt structure used by the woman. She inputs detailed information about her skin conditions, age, and specific concerns, anticipating a transformative routine.

Maggie (B) [02:36]: "So I followed the same format, entered it in, said that I want you to act not just as a dermatologist, but also you're extremely skilled esthetician. I want you to use professional skincare products."

Initially optimistic, Maggie quickly encounters challenges. The AI-generated routine includes steps and products that don't align with her personal preferences—most notably, the inclusion of toner, a step she actively avoids in her regimen.

Maggie (B) [03:32]: "It also listed multiple products that I could use and I was immediately turned off when it said I needed to use toner."

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3. The Limitations and Biases of AI in Skincare Recommendations

Ella and Maggie delve into the shortcomings of ChatGPT's recommendations. Maggie discovers that without her professional background, the AI's suggestions might not meet the nuanced needs of individual clients.

Ella (C) [04:31]: "I'm imagining it's pulling from these places that have high SEO. With a high SEO places are these mainstream brands who pay organ or, you know, somebody to have a new SEO for their Google ranking."

They discuss how AI models like ChatGPT often rely on high-SEO sources, leading to biased recommendations favoring mainstream brands over niche or professional-grade products. This dependency can result in generic advice that may not suit everyone's unique skincare needs.

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4. The Art of Prompt Coding: Enhancing AI Responses

Maggie employs "prompt coding"—a technique of refining and rephrasing prompts to guide the AI towards more accurate and tailored responses. Through iterative prompting, she achieves a more satisfactory skincare routine, aligning closer to her existing regimen with minor adjustments.

Maggie (B) [06:04]: "We went through three different versions of regimens based on the more information I kept prompting and in the end ended up with basically a regimen I already do."

Despite improvements, the process underscores the necessity for users to possess a certain level of expertise and persistence to extract valuable advice from AI tools, which may not be feasible for the average consumer.

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5. The Role of AI: Tool or Replacement?

The conversation shifts to the broader implications of AI in the esthetician field. Maggie expresses initial concerns about AI potentially replacing human professionals, but both hosts acknowledge that AI is more likely to serve as a supplementary tool rather than a complete substitute.

Maggie (B) [11:00]: "Embrace it. Don't distrust it all the way. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, initially when I saw this thread, my gut reaction was, wow, AI is replacing the esthetician or the dermatologist."

Ella concurs, emphasizing that professionals bring a depth of knowledge and personalized care that AI currently cannot replicate. They stress the importance of maintaining trust and credibility in professional services amidst the rise of AI-generated content.

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6. Integrating AI into Professional Practice

Rather than viewing AI as a threat, Ella and Maggie advocate for its integration into esthetician practices to enhance client services. They suggest practical applications such as virtual consultations, interactive skin quizzes, and leveraging AI for efficient research on skincare ingredients and contraindications.

Ella (C) [10:27]: "And another thing to think about for estheticians is medicine. So if your client comes in during the consultation and has pharmaceuticals or supplements, you can plug that into Perplexity and say, are there any skin contraindications of these?"

By utilizing AI tools like Perplexity, which provides peer-reviewed studies and sources, estheticians can offer more informed and scientifically-backed advice, streamlining the consultation process and enhancing client trust.

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7. Trusting the Professional Edge

The hosts conclude by reinforcing the irreplaceable value of professional judgment and personalized care in skincare. While AI can aid in information processing and routine creation, the nuanced understanding and empathy of human professionals remain paramount.

Ella (C) [09:44]: "But I guess the, like, long and short of it is that we know more than ChatGPT, so always, at least Maggie and I always put your trust in the pro."

They encourage estheticians to leverage AI as a complementary tool, enhancing their practice without compromising the personalized touch that clients seek.

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Conclusion: Embracing Technology While Upholding Professional Integrity

Episode 300 of ASCP Esty Talk masterfully navigates the complex landscape of AI in the skincare industry. Maggie and Ella provide insightful analyses on how AI tools like ChatGPT can influence skincare routines, the importance of discerning information sources, and the potential for AI to augment professional services rather than replace them. The discussion underscores the necessity for estheticians to stay informed and adapt to technological advancements, ensuring they continue to deliver personalized and effective skincare solutions to their clients.

For estheticians and skincare enthusiasts alike, this episode offers a balanced perspective on integrating AI into practice, advocating for a harmonious blend of technology and professional expertise to foster enhanced client outcomes and industry growth.

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Notable Quotes:

• Maggie (B) [03:39]: "I had to do a little reality check here. So I followed the same format, entered it in, said that I want you to act not just as a dermatologist, but also you're extremely skilled esthetician."

• Ella (C) [04:31]: "I'm imagining it's pulling from these places that have high SEO. With a high SEO places are these mainstream brands who pay organ or, you know, somebody to have a new SEO for their Google ranking and all these other things."

• Maggie (B) [11:00]: "Embrace it. Don't distrust it all the way."

• Ella (C) [09:44]: "But I guess the, like, long and short of it is that we know more than ChatGPT, so always, at least Maggie and I always put your trust in the pro."

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Stay Connected:

For more insights from this episode or to engage with Maggie and Ella, visit the show notes or connect via ASCP's social media channels. Share your thoughts on how estheticians are balancing AI-generated advice with professional judgment by reaching out on Instagram, Facebook, or emailing [e-mail].

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Foreign hello and welcome to ASCP's SD Talk. I'm your co host Maggie Stasik and ASCP's program director.

[C]

And I'm Ella Cressman, licensed esthetician, ingredient junkie and content contributor for Associated Skincare professionals.

[B]

So Ella, across my thread on social LinkedIn there was this article people were commenting on. This 37 year old woman went to ChatGPT and prompted Chat GPT to be a professional dermatologist slash esthetician and create a skincare routine for her. And I was really intrigued by this. It went viral and I went to Google and actually this is something that there's like a million stories about this, but maybe this girl had a lot of followers and that's why it blew up. But a lot of people have been doing this and so, you know, I'm all into the gimmicks. I tried it out.

[C]

Nice. What happened?

[B]

Well, I want to share with you first her prompt to chat because I basically followed her thing. So she says hi Chat GPT, you are to act like a professional and extremely skilled and experienced dermatologist. You will help me give a skincare routine schedule that will help me get much more beautiful skin. And then she goes on to say that these are her skin conditions, this is how old she is, this is what her skin looks like, so on and so forth. So I was like, wow, that's amazing. And she had before and after photos, her skin looked beautiful.

[C]

Wow.

[B]

I'm like, I am in man. I am trying this out. Like chat is amazing. Now granted this could be a problem for the skincare industry, but I want to know like what's it going to Recommend for me? Five minutes later I was like, wow, ChatGPT does not know anything.

[C]

Okay, what happened?

[B]

I had to do a little reality check here. So I followed the same format, entered it in, said that I want you to act not just as a dermatologist, but also you're extremely skilled esthetician. I want you to use professional skincare products. These are all my problems. Now. It gave me in a like very extensive routine, broken up by morning routine, night routine, then also some optional steps that I could do. It also listed multiple products that I could use and I was immediately turned off when it said I needed to use toner.

[C]

Uh, no, no, not today. No. But what was it about today?

[B]

Not today. I'm an anti toner user as part of the problem.

[C]

But the anti toner, anti toner, that's what did it. That that was invalid.

[B]

After that pushed me over the edge. I will say that I did go back and with my esthetician hat on, gave it more prompts saying, are you familiar with these professional product lines? And I do use retinol regularly and glycolic regularly. And what do you think about that? And we actually had like a very nice conversation chat and I. And in the end I got a very nice regimen. But a consumer who doesn't have this backgr knowledge would be told, use toner and your Neutrogena cleanser and you're gonna look like a baby's bottom.

[C]

I think that's such an interesting point of view because really what they do is they. They. The ChatGpts 4 hopefully. But whatever. They're pulling from all of these things and it's. Do you remember SEO?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I'm imagining it's pulling from these places that have high SEO. With a high SEO places are these mainstream brands who pay organ or, you know, somebody to have a new SEO for their Google ranking and all these other things. So the information I feel can be a little askew with these AI type formats. What's interesting is what you did is called prompt coding because you kept going.

[B]

You know all this stuff.

[C]

I love AI because I use it a lot, but it's called prompt coding and it's going to be a new section of that part of the industry. But the general public doesn't. They're taking that one answer for gold. And this is something that's happening when you're typing in. How does this one ingredient work? So this is my problem with a lot of these AI search engines is it's pulling from the most popular people getting the most popular opinions. Imagine if it's like asking the most popular influencer their opinion on what you should do.

[B]

Yeah. Oh, it's going to be very biased.

[C]

Yes, absolutely.

[B]

I did even type into chat we're on a first name basis now.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I did ask Chat. Do you know what you're talking about? They respond back to everything very positively. Doesn't matter what I put in. They're very positive.

[C]

That's nice.

[B]

Yeah. And they said, yes, I know about this, I know about that. Sure. Let me be so helpful, actually. Sure. We can adjust your regimen based on this additional information that you're providing.

[C]

What was the biggest difference between v1 and like this additional information that you guys came.

[B]

Um, so we went through three different versions of regimens based on the more information I kept prompting and in the end ended up with basically a regimen I already do. And the right one. Yeah. With little sprinkles of some over the counter products.

[C]

Hmm. Would you use those over the counter products?

[B]

I am willing to try it because I can't help but be swayed.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I mean clearly Chat knows what it's talking about.

[C]

Yes, they do. Once you get there. Eventually. Get there eventually.

[B]

Yeah. So like broad level here. Let's talk about why people are turning to AI instead of professionals or are they even turning to AI instead of professionals? I think there's a lot to unpick here. First of all, it's available 247 and depending on the generation, I think there are some people who are maybe afraid to actually go to that professional, can't pay that professional. And the access to information that they take as gold, like you said, seems easy and affordable and immediate.

[C]

Yeah, I can see that as being, I mean it's. And it's something we're going to more and more. It started with you brought it up one time. We said, I know ask. I used to ask Jeeves.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So you have a long history.

[B]

That's how I got my relationships.

[C]

They used to ask Jeeves and then it became a verb to Google it. Just Google it. And so this is a more refined option here, this AI that we have, but we go to it for a lot of things, whether it's random at facts or now the last few years, this refined version that we're getting. So like we assume that every single community member of the United States of America is coming to a professional, but we know that's not true. There's a large percentage that we're going to figure it out on our own. And for that there's now websites and such and they have these skin quizzes. So my, you know, half full mind is going to that this information and these draws will help refine those skin quizzes because I hate those Or I hate what they've been.

[B]

I love them.

[C]

Yeah. Okay. And so you basically did the same thing. You prompted your own skin quiz.

[B]

Yeah. Yes. I love those skin quizzes for the same reason I loved going to ChatGPT and saying, Tell me what I should use.

[C]

And did you trust them or did you want to just know what they had to say?

[B]

I just wanted to know what they had to say. And what I do is pick and choose based on the results. You know what? It's. I'm probably mental here because I get the result either from the quiz or from ChatGPT, and then say, mm, are you right? I don't know if you're right. I think actually I know more.

[C]

Mm. So it's a confidence booster for you. Yeah. Okay. Let me just switch industries.

[B]

You know what? That's how I get my well being.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

My cup of coffee and a skin quiz.

[C]

Yeah. No, you don't. So when you get your hair done. Yeah. And they say you need this conditioner.

[B]

Do you go, oh, yeah, you better believe it. Actually, I go to a hair person who doesn't try to retell me anything.

[C]

Okay. Do you use hair products?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

From where?

[B]

Well, wherever I can get it for free because I'm in the biz, lady.

[C]

Okay, good. Fair enough. Okay, that's interesting, because I'm the same way. I go to hair person. And. And they're like, you need this and this. And I'm like, do I know?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So it might just be because we're in the business that we're a little bit more discerning. Yeah, essentially.

[B]

That's a nice way to put it.

[C]

But I guess that's my concern with the public is not everyone's like, oh, I need this and I need that. I need two different heat protections. Okay. Yeah. You know, not to say they're. They're just trusting.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

But then I ask people to trust me.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

But I guess the, like, long and short of it is that we know more than ChatGPT, so always, at least Maggie and I always put your trust in the pro. Who's going to. Unless you're good at code prompting, perhaps.

[B]

You know, just talking about AI, there's a lot that estheticians can incorporate into their practice.

[C]

I think so too.

[B]

You know, and I mean, if we're talking about trust here, estheticians can offer those virtual consultations or a quiz, if you will, before booking your appointment or even just doing a. What is it? Virtual skin analysis.

[C]

I think those are all great ideas. You know, there's another one. It's not chatgpt. It's called Perplexity.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And it'll pull peer reviewed studies or it'll, it'll show you the source of where they're getting the information from. And another thing to think about for estheticians is medicine. So if your client comes in during the consultation and has pharmaceuticals or supplements, you can plug that into Perplexity and say, are there any skin contraindications of these? Which is way more efficient than Google.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Or help me design a skincare routine for people with these medications and help you. Yeah. So there is opportunity, I feel, to use it in a positive way.

[B]

Yeah. Embrace it. Don't distrust it all the way. Yeah, yeah. So, you know, initially when I saw this thread, my gut reaction was, wow, AI is replacing the esthetician or the dermatologist. There are people out there that are going not just to chat GPT but to Google or even like WebMD to say, I've got X, Y and Z going on. Or help me create my routine and not going to the professional.

[C]

Ooh, you said WebMD.

[B]

I did.

[C]

Okay. It would be like the doctors being afraid that people won't seek medical care because they can go to WebMD. Now I think it's the opposite. They're going to WebMD and they're like freaking out and needing more. But I digress. Like, oh my gosh, it's the worst possible scenario. But I would say that I think it's not a threat to us because those people that are gonna go do that are not gonna come to us anyway. And they're. If they are gonna come, they're not gonna stay. So on the flip side, if that's your concern, like, oh, they're gonna replace me, shake it off, Taylor Swift it, and then just give your best to the people who do wanna come to you.

[B]

You said it. I love that. That's so true. If they're gonna be using the ChatGPT to build their skincare routine and apply the toner and the Neutrogena, they're not using an esthetician.

[C]

Anyway, I wanna know what your routine was.

[B]

Yeah. So let me share with you a little bit about the routine. So the skincare routine that I ultimately ended up with from ChatGPT was to start with a cleanser. And I did prompt this a little bit that I wanted hydration and I wanted vitamin C and all the good things that I think a just general consumer would know about anyway. But it recommended using hydrating, non foaming, cleanser something formulated for combination skin. Because that's what I told chat I was dealing with. It told me to focus on ingredients that had glycerin and hyaluronic acid, which I thought was interesting for a cleanser. Then the dreaded toner to balance my PH after I had just cleansed with glycerin and hyaluronic acid. And this is when I wrote ChatGPT off number two.

[C]

Done.

[B]

Done. And it was recommending a toner that was like a rose water or a witch hazel, which, you know, that's great if that's for you, but I have never felt the need to tone. And I think this is just an added step. If you like that feeling, awesome. But I thought, wow, Chat, you do not know me.

[C]

You made me sad.

[B]

You made me sad. Then next step is a vitamin C serum. All about that. And it said to find ingredients like ascorbic acid or ascorbyl glucoside. And again I said, chad, no, you're failing me. Yeah, yeah. So you know, another good example of where AI isn't quite as knowledgeable as the professional.

[C]

Right? That's a. Wah, wah, wah.

[B]

Yeah, a hundred percent, um, hydrating serum. I kind of was impressed with this, of course, recommending hyaluronic acid, but it gave a nice over the counter recommendation that had B5 and hyaluronic acid. So I did like that. And then of course moisturizer and spf and all of that was just the morning routine.

[C]

Whoa, that's a lot.

[B]

Yeah, it is. Just a lot.

[C]

That's a lot. It would be different if you did this routine for like a couple weeks. Next time, right?

[B]

Next time I'm gonna buy all these products, we'll do some before and afters and then we'll reconnect.

[C]

Okay, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna send you mine concerns and you can chat GPT it.

[B]

Yeah, we should do you.

[C]

Yeah, that'd be fun.

[B]

I wanna see what it says. Okay, now listeners, we wanna hear from you. How do estheticians manage this balance between AI generated advice and, and professional judgment? Share with us on social media through Instagram, Facebook or by emailing getconnectedscpskincare.com thank you for listening to ASCPSDtalk. And as always, for more information on this episode, or for ways to connect with Ella and myself, or to learn more about ascp, check out the show notes.