Navigating Digital Identity and Verification: AI, Avatars, and Staying Relevant Across Generations

4 min readOct 9, 2024

As someone who’s always been clean-shaven, I’ve enjoyed a simple benefit — being mistaken for a 20-something, long after my 20s were behind me. Sure, it’s flattering, but in the world of business, where a little grey hair is often shorthand for wisdom and experience, it didn’t always work in my favor.

This is where AI stepped in with a suggestion I didn’t see coming: grow a hipster goatee. Apparently, this would help me connect better with both the young guns and the seasoned pros. So here I am, experimenting with facial hair, and wondering, was AI right? 🤔

The Human Touch in a Digital World

Before we dive into AI, let’s talk about the photo you’re seeing. It wasn’t created by an algorithm, but rather taken by a human in Bangalore — at a fraction of the cost of an AI-generated headshot! If you’ve ever tried smiling naturally for a photo, you’ll know it’s easier said than done, but the photographer’s patience helped. The human touch truly made all the difference. 😄

AI Meets Facial Hair: The Verification Dilemma

Here’s where things get interesting. After trying out my new look, I quickly learned that image recognition systems — including LinkedIn’s verification — can’t tell the difference between my clean-shaven face and my bearded one. This wasn’t just a minor annoyance; in India, LinkedIn verification is tied to Aadhaar through DigiLocker. When I flagged this issue to LinkedIn, they acknowledged it but could only offer limited solutions.

What’s in a Name? Quite a Lot, Actually

Now, let’s talk about names. My name on LinkedIn is Kevin F. D’Souza.

My “official” full name is Kevin Francis D Souza, but there’s a quirk in Indian legacy systems — they struggle with recognizing special characters, like the apostrophe in D’Souza. Abroad and locally, I see verified LinkedIn profiles with incomplete names, PhDs, CPAs, and even emojis in their names, while I’m here grappling with a system that can’t handle my beard, let alone my name! 😂 As much as I value my full name, I’d prefer to keep my branding consistent as Kevin F. D’Souza, without the ‘Francis’ showing up everywhere.

LinkedIn expects your profile name to match your exact official name in India for verification.

A Broader Issue: AI Avatars, Incomplete Names, and Special Characters

There are thousands of profiles globally, including in India, featuring AI-generated avatars, incomplete names (some Indian names are long), and various emojis or special characters that don’t match official ID documents. Yet, these profiles are verified.

As a paying LinkedIn customer, it’s frustrating to learn that nothing can be done about this, at least not yet. I hope that as digital platforms evolve, so will their verification systems, ensuring fairness and accuracy for everyone.

I will gladly change my LinkedIn profile name to Kevin Francis D Souza, once everyone in India and globally, puts up their exact name and a photo that matches their official ID documents.

Staying Relevant Across Generations

In the meantime, how do we keep up with the changing times and stay relevant across generations? AI can be helpful, but clearly, there are limits. From facial hair to professional identity, it’s a balancing act between leveraging technology and maintaining our personal brands in an increasingly digital world.

How are you navigating this balance? Was AI right about the goatee? And more importantly, how do you manage the quirks of identity verification in today’s fast-changing landscape?

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Edit: As of October 10, 2024, I am finally verified on LinkedIn. This is still a huge issue considering the amount of verified profiles in India that do not have to do all this. Updating the article, so it reflects the same! Luckily I did not have to shave off my facial hair to be verified! I appreciate the support and guidance from the LinkedIn team!

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7250116934497624066/