“I Had To Grieve My Old Appearance And What My Life Had Once Been”

British charity campaigner and social media personality Nikki Lilly.

When Nikki Lilly jumped on the 2016 TikTok trend, she expected the same nostalgic reactions everyone else was getting. Instead, she watched as strangers began using AI to “fix” her face: cropping one side, mirroring the other, and spewing back versions of her visage without her facial difference. Many called it a compliment. Some told her they had “fixed” her.

For Lilly, who has spent years rebuilding her confidence after developing a facial difference as a child, the experience was deeply violating. Here, she talks about identity, online cruelty, disability, and what it feels like to watch people use AI to erase parts of who you are.