Deepfakes: MyHeritage offers a controversial technique for moving pictures of the dead
The genealogy site, MyHeritage , provided a tool that uses deepfakes to animate faces in photographs of deceased relatives.
The company acknowledged that some people might find the feature, called "Deep Nostalgia," "alarming," while others might consider it "magic."
She said the feature did not include adding speech, to avoid creating "fake people."
This comes as the government in Britain is studying legislation on deep counterfeiting technology.
The legal committee is studying proposals to make creating fake videos without consent illegal.
My Heritage said it intentionally did not include speech in the feature "in order to prevent misuse of the app, such as creating fake videos of living people."
"This feature is for nostalgia, that is, to bring our beloved ancestors back to life," she wrote in the frequently asked questions about the new technology.
But she also acknowledged that "some people like the Deep Nostalgia feature and consider it magical, while others find it scary and don't like it."
"The results can be controversial, and it is difficult to remain indifferent to this technology."
Fake Lincoln
Deepfakes are computer-generated videos using artificial intelligence.
The technology behind Deep Nostalgia was developed by the Israeli company, D-ID.
It used artificial intelligence and trained its algorithms on pre-recorded videos of live people moving their faces and nodding.
On the My Heritage site, historical figures such as Queen Victoria and Florence Nightingale are brought to life. And earlier this month, to celebrate his birthday, the company posted a video of Abraham Lincoln on YouTube using this technology.
The former US president is shown in color while he speaks.
People began posting videos of their resurrected ancestors on Twitter, with mixed responses. Some described the results as "astonishing" and "emotional" while others expressed concern.
In December, Britain's Channel 4 channel created a fake queen who delivered a Christmas message, as part of a warning about how technology could be used to spread fake news.
