Genealogy service MyHeritage has just launched a new feature that lets users fulfill their familial nostalgia by turning old family photographs into animated pictures using Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithm.
The Black Mirror-style pull of seeing late relatives or famous people from another era brought to a synthetic approximation of life with tilting faces and emotional reactions on the screens of smart devices, as if they're wondering why they're stuck inside this useless digital photo frame.
According to the TechCrunch website, the new feature has led to an inexorable stream of social shares since it was launched on Wednesday.
MyHeritage's AI-powered viral marketing playbook with this deepfakery isn't a complicated one: They're going straight for tugging on your heartstrings to grab data that can be used to drive sign-ups for their other paid services.
It's free to animate a photo using the deep nostalgia tech on MyHeritage's site, but you don't get to see the result until you hand over at least an email and agree to its privacy policy, which has attracted a number of concerns over the years.
