This technology was built in the name of nostalgia, but it is being used in the name of absurdity.
Last Thursday, the genealogy website MyHeritage announced a new tool for animating photos, called Deep Nostalgia. While the technology was intended to allow users to “bring loved ancestors back to life” and “live their family history like never before,” many Internet citizens have found far less healthy applications for it.
“So, I was wondering how the recent #DeepLearning facial animation services fare with busts and I decided to take a look at that sloppy Christiano Ronaldo statue,” a Twitter user captioned “#DeeplyDisturbed” video created with MyHeritage software to show the bronze bust moving strangely.
An animated version of Mona Lisa it is less disturbing, but still disturbing.
“Since this #DeepNostalgia thing is gaining popularity, I found something that #InternetNeverForgets”, tweeted another user who tried the software to animate Beyoncé face average performance.
“Frederick Douglass, the powerful abolitionist, was the most photographed person in the United States during the 19th century. That’s how he looked on the move. Get ready and hit play, ” tweeted a user who decided to use the tool for something closer to its purpose.
MyHeritage is aware that the tool – which uses technology developed by the deep learning company D-ID – can launch photos deeply into strange territories.
“Some people love the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it scary and don’t like it,” wrote the company in a section of frequently asked questions. “In fact, the results can be controversial and it is difficult to remain indifferent to this technology.”
With that in mind, MyHeritage invites users to “please use this feature on your own historical photos and not on photos of people living without your permission”. In addition, the ability to include speech in the videos was not purposely included to “prevent abuse”.