The beauty of crooked lines

We live in an age of perfection overload. Daily exposure to flawless faces, immaculate beige-gray apartments, and perfect bodies has led to a distinct saturation effect – we have become social media fatigued. Beauty filters are shaping entire generations, while at the same time a counter-movement is emerging. “No filter” campaigns are achieving wide reach and positive resonance, because conscious omission has become something special. But is smooth, pretty, symmetrical really the ultimate, or just soulless?

More and more people are starting to look for stories again instead of just surfaces. Because the cheaper perfection has become, the more valuable authenticity seems. It's no coincidence that OpenAI shot its latest commercial entirely on 35 mm film – a deliberate counterstatement. Film grain, blurring, scratches: materiality has suddenly become a luxury. Imperfection serves as an emotional anchor in a world that is becoming increasingly smooth.

“Made by Humans” could become the new “organic.” Like handmade furniture, slow fashion, or artisanal chocolate, imperfection suddenly stands for value, awareness, and style. “Created without AI” would then not be an expression of rejection, but a conscious decision in favor of quality.

At the same time, we are entering an age in which the boundary between reality and simulation is dissolving. A picture no longer says more than a thousand words – it raises one question above all: Is this real or AI? Deepfakes, AI-generated images, and voice clones reinforce our longing for things we can trust again. Like everything rare, authenticity is becoming increasingly valuable.

Imperfection is no longer a flaw, but rather an aesthetic stance. We see this in photography (graininess, blurriness), in fashion (normcore, ugly chic), and in architecture (visible patina, raw concrete). Perfection creates pressure, comparison, and self-doubt: “I'm not good enough.” Imperfection, on the other hand, is relieving: “This is who I am – and that's okay.” Perhaps we are collectively moving into a phase where we want more reality again.

But at the same time, it is worth viewing AI not as an adversary, but as an opportunity: as a tool that can create more space for humanity. A provocative thesis: perhaps AI will not lead us away from humanity – but back to it.

Because AI can take care of the monotonous, repetitive, organizational tasks – all the things that, let's be honest, we rarely feel like doing anyway. It can give us time: for creativity, emotion, the unpredictable. For ideas, crooked lines, rough edges.

If we view AI and humans as synergistic rather than competitive, we can create a model for the future in which AI delivers perfection and efficiency, and humans deliver meaning, perspective, and soul. AI is here to stay. And perhaps it will even help us get closer to what really defines us: authenticity.