FaceApp has gone viral. Why? Because it lets you transform your face in hilarious ways.
But privacy advocates warn you could be giving up much more information than you think.
It's the number one free iPhone app in Australia and more than 20 other countries at the moment, according to Applyzer.com. More than 700,000 people are reportedly downloading it every day.
Its creators, based in Russia, say the app uses a form of artificial intelligence (AI) — known as a neural network — to scan faces and make them younger, older, a different gender, or more attractive.
FaceApp's founder Yaroslav Goncharov said recently the app used "neural networks to modify a face on any photo while keeping it photorealistic".
I'm just stunned how realistic the manipulated images look. You can't actually tell it's been automatically manipulated (rather than manipulated by a humam artist) at all.
