Regarding photos in extreme in the night time, lit by street lights where plenty of noise exists. The “Recover Faces” option works well to get back details of the face in most cases. However, it seems to add scales as a trade off. So, when the photo is taken from Photo AI into another app to properly expose and bring in texture, the face ends up getting more accentuated scales.
I’m using a Sony A7C, after 2100 hours, ISO 2000, F2.8, 1/250 and 85mm. I cannot share the entire photo because their identities need to be protected. but I can share parts for an example.
Do you have images that you could share so I could try to reproduce this? You can securely submit your image(s) to my Dropbox using the link below. Please be sure to send me a note to let me know you sent something. Dropbox File Request