WeChat has launched a new feature that can make your photos move

Recently, WeChat has quietly upgraded its "Search" function, connected to and strengthened the "Search by Image" function, and added a "Face Search Mode" for photos.

When chatting on WeChat, we often send pictures. If you send photos, you can use WeChat's "face search mode".

There are two ways to enable WeChat's "face search mode":

One is to long press the photo in the WeChat chat dialog box and select "Search" from the pop-up menu;

The second method is to open the photo, click the icon with three small dots in the lower right corner [...], and select the "Search" function from the pop-up menu.

So, what effect will it have after turning on the "face search mode"?

For ordinary photos, using the WeChat "Search" function will show which celebrity the person in the photo looks like. After extracting the main features of the person, the system will display three "similar celebrity faces" and the similarity degree of each celebrity according to the corresponding algorithm, and will sort them according to the degree of similarity.

This function has a certain entertainment value for some netizens who like to chase stars. But the next function is more relevant to them and more fun.

If the facial features of the photo you are searching for are clear enough, a "Face Changing Lab" function will appear on the search page. It will automatically generate 6 dynamic expressions from the photo after extracting the facial features of the photo, making the face, eyes, eyebrows, mouth, etc. in the photo move, and will generate a realistic cartoon character photo.

More importantly, these dynamic emoticon packs can be viewed individually, sent to friends, and saved to mobile phones. What you can do with these emoticon packs next is up to you to imagine according to your needs.

WeChat's "Face Changing Lab" feature reminds me of the "Ants" AI special effect that was popular on a certain audio app some time ago. Through this special effect, the characters in the photo can be moved according to the set mode, which is very playable.

AI is the abbreviation of artificial intelligence, which is an abbreviation of contemporary computer science. Through AI technology, the information process of human consciousness and thinking can be simulated, and even some things that humans cannot accomplish can be accomplished.

In recent years, there are more and more AI applications, such as AI face-changing, AI photo restoration, lossless image enlargement, voice assistant, predictive analysis and even driverless driving. Recently, Xiaoyu also found a mobile phone APP made with AI technology, which can perfectly implant photos of ordinary people into characters in some film and television dramas without any sense of disobedience. Some people have already used this technology to charge for customized videos in WeChat Moments.

It is no exaggeration to say that AI technology will be used in more and more scenarios in our daily lives in the future, and its impact on us will become greater and greater.

However, the emergence of any technology is a double-edged sword, and AI technology is no exception. Recently, I have seen some negative news about AI face-changing. Some people with ulterior motives have combined some celebrities with pornographic films through AI face-changing technology... If high technology is combined with these gray industries, the negative impact will be huge. Imagine if one day when you open your phone, you find that your face has been implanted into the protagonist of a "small movie", how would you feel?

In general, AI technology will definitely change our lifestyle in the future. The "face search mode" of the WeChat search function is just a small scenario of AI technology application, just the tip of the iceberg of AI technology. When using AI technology, we should not only see the convenience brought by AI technology to us, but also be vigilant against AI technology being abused.

People often say "seeing is believing", but in front of AI, what we see is not necessarily the truth. It may be the product of AI technology transplantation.