First algorithms figured out how to decipher images. That’s why you can unlock an iPhone with your face. More recently, machine learning has become capable of generating and altering images and video.

In 2018, researchers and artists took AI-made and enhanced visuals to another level. Scroll through these examples to see how software that can make images, video, and art could power new forms of entertainment—as well as disinformation.

Fake Moves

Software developed at UC Berkeley can transfer the movements of one person, captured on video, onto another.

The process begins with two source clips—one showing the movement to be transferred, and another showing a sample of the person to be transformed. One part of the software extracts the body positions from both clips; another learns how to create a realistic image of the subject for any given body position. It can then generate video of the subject performing more or less any set of movements. In its initial version, the system needs 20 minutes of input video before it can map new moves onto your body.

The end result is similar to a trick often used in Hollywood. Superheroes, aliens, and the simians in Planet of the Apes movies are animated by placing markers on actors’ faces and bodies so they can be tracked in 3-D by special cameras. The Berkeley project suggests machine learning algorithms could make those production values much more accessible.

Night Visions