Why I Use a GenAI Image as My Profile Picture

(Note: This is the original version of a post I made on LinkedIn which was edited there to fit the platform’s character limit.)

Despite having a LinkedIn profile for several years, I didn’t set a profile picture as I was incredibly hesitant to use a photo of myself. After much deliberation, I finally set one a couple of months ago…although it’s actually a GenAI image which was prompted by me. I can imagine that some people would find this odd or would view this negatively (especially given the witchunting around “slop” these days), however I have some pretty good reasons for my choices.

First, privacy concerns. I grew up in the time when the advice regarding sharing content on the Internet was “don’t share personal information online; anyone from your next-door neighbor to a stranger in Timbuktu can and will read it”. I’ve always kept this in mind and my general approach is to keep my cards as close to my chest as possible. It seems like this idea has lost a lot of traction in recent years, and I find this movement towards having to divulge more and more information just to participate (like having to use your phone number to sign up for an account) to be invasive and disturbing.

Second, I’ll suppose I’ll confess that part of it is self-consciousness. I don’t think I’m ugly by any measure, but I was a teenager in the 2000s and that time was particularly brutal regarding appearances, especially for young women. As an adult I have far more resilience, and yet I still am not really interested in subjecting myself to that kind of scrutiny (to say nothing of the particular image-related neuroses that are common these days).

Third, I don’t want my image to be used for nefarious purposes.² Unfortunately, fraud and content theft are rampant on LinkedIn. I had an encounter with a scammer last year where they were posing as a recruiter and had messaged me regarding some position. I was skeptical, but the profile seemed to pass the smell test at first glance, but the subsequent message asked for way more information than would be necessary from a candidate, and at that point I immediately disengaged. But again, it was the plausibility of the profile that made me let my guard down and communicate with them. Some nice office lady somewhere got her picture swiped and it’s now being used to swindle people.

So for the longest time, I simply didn’t have a profile picture. This changed when I was looking around various services and came across OpsMill. In addition to being a interesting service¹, their About Us page had a neat way of showcasing their staff. Some have used their own photos, but most instead have a GenAI image depicting themselves as an anthropomorphic otter, sitting at a work desk with a poster bearing the name of their location (I assume) and assorted items reflecting their interests (I assume, as well). I thought this was a very clever way to personalize their company, and it allowed their personnel to keep some privacy while showing individuality and keeping in line with the company’s branding.

I took the idea, and made a similar image for myself — I asked it to turn me into a cat³ with glasses, I specified a poster depicting Boston and for the room to contain shelves with games and a table with something relating to music, as those were and are my two biggest interests outside of work.

And thus I became the Tech Cat-of-All-Trades.