The genealogy site MyHeritage’s latest AI tool is designed to transform photos of deceased loves ones into heart-touching videos. Bringing the dead to life was never as easy as it is with the innovative new Deepfake tool.
DeepNostagia tool is supported by tech developed by D-ID, an Israeli tech firm. Numerous drivers work together to create an animation of the faces from old pictures.
A description on the latest tool states, “Each driver is a video consisting of a fixed sequence of movements and gestures. Deep Nostalgia can accurately apply the drivers to a face in your still photo, creating a short video that you can share with your friends and family. The driver guides the movements in the animation so you can see your ancestors smile, blink, and turn their heads.”
Early Criticism
Uploading and sharing images of deceased loved ones and long-lost friends sure sounds tempting. However, doing so is considered more of an uncomfortable proposition. Digitally reanimating a person’s face without their consent sounds like an idea most people won’t like either.
However, defending the new DeepNostalgia tool, MyHeritage said that it doesn’t create speech, allowing developers to create actionable fake videos. They have created an exclusive voice for Abraham Lincoln’s recreated video to promote their tool better.
Contradicting views on DeepNostalgia tool
Even if the deep nostalgia tool can recreate old photos into videos with voices, it still won’t reflect the person’s personality. Imitating a real human using AI is similar to an impersonation of that person. No matter how advanced the technology is, it won’t be able to catch the real vibe.
“This feature is intended for nostalgic use, that is, to bring beloved ancestors back to life,” said MyHeritage in its FAQs about the new feature. But the company also admitted that “some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it creepy and dislike it. The results can be controversial, and it’s hard to stay indifferent to this technology.”
Bringing back time with DeepNostalgia AI tool
AI-run images transform into Deepfake model videos enabling them to simulate the animation, making the dead appear alive.
On its official website, MyHeritage has historical figures such as Florence Nightingale and Queen Victoria recreated for visual entertainment. More and more people have started to post reanimated videos of their long-deceased loved ones on social media. Some are finding it amusing and state of the tool as a great emotional help. However, most others weren’t pleased with the idea at all.
A critical tool to spread chaos
The deep nostalgia tool can cause major controversies in the coming times. People are raising questions on the tool on ethical grounds. However, that’s not all. It might pose larger risks as earlier in December, one of the U.K’s news channels created a Deepfake Queen who gave a different Christmas message.
It is possible to spread fake news through different media platforms by easily generating a popular figure’s Deepfake video. Even if some of the users find it interesting, it should still be banned, given the potential misapplication.
