
In the 2015 book Picturing Frederick Douglass, Harvard historian John Stauffer explains that Douglass, as a former enslaved individual, believed photography "highlighted the essential humanity of its subjects," reported Renee Graham for WBUR in 2016. Images of black people existed, but often in subservient, violent or compromised positions in the context of slavery. Other critics note that historical figures were often very intentional about their posture and expression in photos, like Frederick Douglass, who has been called "the most photographed American of the 19th century." He purposely chose photography as a medium for changing how the world viewed black men at the time. In other instances, the faces of Hollywood celebrities were edited onto the bodies of actresses in pornographic videos, reports AJ Willingham for CNN. Deep fakes can be used for malicious purposes, such as splicing words into someone's speech, making it appear that they are saying something they never said. "Seeing our beloved ancestors' faces come to life in a video simulation lets us imagine how they might have been in reality, and provides a profound new way of connecting to our family history," Gilad Japhet, CEO and founder of MyHeritage, tells USA Today's Coral Murphy Marcos.ĭeep fakes have drawn controversy in recent years for their uncanny ability to create alterred videos or images of political figures and celebrities that can't be distinguished from the real thing. The algorithm can recognize which pre-recorded video best fits with the photo depending on the subject's pose and applies natural facial movements to images that didn't previously move, reports Kim Lyons for Verge.

Department of the Interior through the General Services Administration Smithsonian American Art Museum, Transfer from the U.S. The image was animated using MyHeritage's Deep Nostalgia tool. Footage of real people displaying different facial movements were used to train Deep Nostalgia's algorithm to apply motion to still photos, reports Ed Browne for Newsweek.Īn oil on canvas portrait of George Washington, attributed to To create lifelike movements, the facial recognition company D-ID, which specializes in deep learning technology, uses GANs to animate the uploaded images. MyHeritage introduced Deep Nostalgia to allow users to see their ancestors or late relatives in motion. Over time, both tools will learn to create incredibly lifelike images that are difficult to distinguish from the originals, as reported by Adam Mann for Live Science in 2019. Another system, the discriminator, determines if the data passes as real or fake.

One system, the generator, creates a copy of an image using new data. systems working together to create content that appears eerily similar to the real thing. can create video footage or "deepfakes" using generative adversarial networks or GANs, Live Science reports. The tech is also being used to animate artwork, statues and photos of ancestors.Ī.I.


The historical figures can blink, move their heads side-to-side, and even smile. Social media users have created lifelike moving portraits of mathematician Alan Turing, abolitionist Frederick Douglass and physicist Marie Curie, reports Mindy Weisberger for Live Science. The technology, which was released on February 25 by the genealogy website MyHeritage, has since gone viral. Almost like animated, moving portraits in the Harry Potter franchise, photos once frozen in time are being brought to life with an artificial intelligence (A.I.) program called Deep Nostalgia.
