In early 2021, I came across this advertisement for an application that uses AI in order to turn a picture into a small 10 second video. At the time, I scrolled past it with no interest until it kept being recommended on my social medias. I finally gave in a downloaded the application.
I had this picture of my grandfather as my background and thought it would be fun to try the application with it. I had just mentioned to my family how I thought we did not have enough videos of my grandfather, and his unique facial expressions. After watching a 30 second advertisement, the results were mind-blowing. It was like my grandfather was alive again through a picture that had been taken years ago.
The application, also available as a website, is called MyHeritage. With their service “Deep Nostalgia”, AI can convert photos of people either new or old, and animate them into a short 15 second video. Basically, “Deep Nostalgia works by using several pre-recorded videos of facial movements, consisting of a fixed sequence of movements and gestures, then using AI software, it will apply the one that works best for the photo you are trying to animate.” (MyHeritage, n.d.).
In my case, I found this service absolutely great. I still use it until this day to animate old pictures and play around with my camera roll. However, I can also see a potential issue that arrises from such a Generative AI concept. With any technology that has the potential to manipulate photos or videos, there is always a risk of using someone else’s picture with consent, and make it available to the public. For example, someone could use MyHeritage to create fake videos of people saying/doing things they never did, which could be harmful.
And again, the question of how freely should we let society use these Generative AI tools arises.
MyHeritage Deep NostalgiaTM, deep learning technology to animate the faces in still family photos – MyHeritage. (n.d.). MyHeritage. https://www.myheritage.com/deep-nostalgia
Thank you for sharing this in-depth experience with this new technology that I was not aware of. The fact that MyHeritage is able to bring back old memories by bringing a photo to life is something really fascinating. I imagine being able to do this with photos of my grandmother, my family would be amazed. In my opinion, this kind of innovation has enriched our ability to connect with our past in a way we never thought possible. However, your consideration of the potential threads of this artificial intelligence tool is important. When I think about the facility required to manipulate video or images, it scares me and I firmly believe that a balance between innovation and ethical considerations is crucial. Indeed, in an era of rapid evolution and advancement of AI, it is essential to promote a culture of responsible use of AI and it is our responsibility to ensure that these tools are used with respect for the dignity and consent of individuals. In light of this, I am curious to try out this new technology and thank you once again for your insightful content.