Police searching for a long-lost person or fugitive sometimes have little more to go on than an old photograph. Artists or computer programs can attempt to predict what these individuals look like today, but both approaches have flaws. Now, scientists have harnessed advanced artificial intelligence (AI) to render artificial aging that’s more realistic (and depressing) than ever.
The system uses a two-part AI algorithm called a generative adversarial network (GAN). The first part takes a face and produces another face of the same individual at a target age. During training, a second part compares this image with a real image of someone at that age and with the original image and provides feedback, encouraging the first part to improve its abilities. Other artificial aging systems have used GANs, but this one differs by focusing not just on getting the age right, but also on maintaining the individual’s identity. Unlike others, it also renders foreheads and (lack of) hair, as seen in the photos of Justin Timberlake and Kirsten Dunst above.
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