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Very impressive work ! On a side note, the section "A word about ethics" was a welcome addition. I found this: > If we can generate realistic looking faces of

by jaster 8y ago

Very impressive work ! On a side note, the section "A word about ethics" was a welcome addition. I found this: > If we can generate realistic looking faces of any type, what are the implications for our ability to trust in what we see. resonated with another article posted on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18309305 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18309305) talking in part about the ethical impact of engineered addiction. I guess very soon we will be able to generate "super-attractive" (as in "superstimuli") faces for virtual personas, according to targeted demographics and purpose (advertisement, youtube videos for kids, political messages and so on). Rather disconcerting...

nestorD 8y ago
Imagine having Tinder's dataset for your target audience and, for each potential customer, generating advertisement with faces designed in order to attract that particular person. That's a disturbing thought.
- heronymus 8y ago
  That's not even far fetched, the ever expanding possibilities of targeting individuals through the big data evolution, will clearly lead to some nightmare like this. My hope is that capitalism will be rendered obsolete through cultural and technological progress, before we arrive there. Stuff like this always reminds me on YTCracker's cyberpunk Album "Introducing Neals" "...big data and your love live after this..." https://ytcracker.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-neals https://ytcracker.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-neals
  - mamon 8y ago
    The problem is that technical progress is much faster than cultural one. Human nature is basically the same it was 2000 years ago: people in power want more power. And while the totalitarism of early 20th century had eventually fallen, the totalitarism powered by constant surveillance, Big Data, Machine Learning has a potential to be so effective we won't be able to escape it. Some elements of that are already implemented in China (think: Great Firewall).
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- bsaul 8y ago
  i don't think people have such different taste related to physical attractiveness that this would make any difference compared to today's use of models for advertising (unfortunately). You could target by ethnical group, but beyond that...
  - c22 8y ago
    There is probably a feedback effect here. It is possible that if systems like this were commonplace people's individual tastes might begin to diverge, which ironically could be beneficial for the human race.
- daenz 8y ago
  >a disturbing thought You misspelled "profitable"
munificent 8y ago
Lately, I find myself wondering if the Great Filter that resolves the Fermi paradox is the point where a species has enough technology to completely super-stimulate themselves to oblivion.
- sebringj 8y ago
  Right this is a great point. Future "mates" would be entirely generated exactly tailored to one's neural pattern optimally in every dimension that is then projected onto some morphing android or in some VR future tech that would render other human contact utterly boring and unappealing. The entire experience of the virtual world is so sugar coated in every aspect that we become completely detached and uninterested from the real one, at least in mass, essentially living inside our own mind's fantasy while AI moves on without us, and rightly so.
  - abakker 8y ago
    So, if everyone gets that, and dies happy, and we leave the earth to the stewardship of the AI and robots...is that the worse possibility? I mean, it sounds dystopian for humans, but it isn't the worst dystopia for humans. I sure prefer that to nuclear holocaust.
    - xvector 8y ago
      I think many of us would prefer that to normal mundane life.
      - abakker 8y ago
        It does have the pleasing effect that if the VR is convincing enough for us, that it would alleviate all material scarcity, which would arguably allow many people to reach greater potential. I.e. sculptors can learn to sculpt without wasting marble, woodworkers don't have to cut down trees or buy machinery. If the simulation is _that good_ then maybe its a great equalizer. we may not arrive at true post-scarcity, but virtual post-scarcity might be a literal next best thing.
vilhelm_s 8y ago
I think painters have been trying to paint super-attractive people for several hundred years now, but the most beautiful drawn/painted people are not dramatically more attractive than the most beautiful real-life photo models. It seems that there is an upper limit on how attractive faces gets, and we have already hit it without using advanced machine learning.
- tobr 8y ago
  I’m not sure paintings are a good reference point. There’s an enormous difference between a static image and a moving, talking person with personality, charisma and apparent agency. Those are the spellbinding aspects of a persons appearance.
anigbrowl 8y ago
I would be worried about this getting used to generate fake faces for social media profiles etc.
Shorel 8y ago
> I guess very soon we will be able to generate "super-attractive" (as in "superstimuli") faces for virtual personas We have done that already, except it was not using AI. I would classify most anime under that label of unrealistic super-attractive images. About the ethical impact, Akihabara seems to be one end result of this. So it would be the same but in a larger scale.

by jaster 8y ago

nestorD 8y ago

Imagine having Tinder's dataset for your target audience and, for each potential customer, generating advertisement with faces designed in order to attract that particular person. That's a disturbing thought.

heronymus 8y ago
That's not even far fetched, the ever expanding possibilities of targeting individuals through the big data evolution, will clearly lead to some nightmare like this. My hope is that capitalism will be rendered obsolete through cultural and technological progress, before we arrive there. Stuff like this always reminds me on YTCracker's cyberpunk Album "Introducing Neals" "...big data and your love live after this..." https://ytcracker.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-neals https://ytcracker.bandcamp.com/album/introducing-neals
- mamon 8y ago
  The problem is that technical progress is much faster than cultural one. Human nature is basically the same it was 2000 years ago: people in power want more power. And while the totalitarism of early 20th century had eventually fallen, the totalitarism powered by constant surveillance, Big Data, Machine Learning has a potential to be so effective we won't be able to escape it. Some elements of that are already implemented in China (think: Great Firewall).
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bsaul 8y ago
i don't think people have such different taste related to physical attractiveness that this would make any difference compared to today's use of models for advertising (unfortunately). You could target by ethnical group, but beyond that...
- c22 8y ago
  There is probably a feedback effect here. It is possible that if systems like this were commonplace people's individual tastes might begin to diverge, which ironically could be beneficial for the human race.
daenz 8y ago
>a disturbing thought You misspelled "profitable"

munificent 8y ago

Lately, I find myself wondering if the Great Filter that resolves the Fermi paradox is the point where a species has enough technology to completely super-stimulate themselves to oblivion.

sebringj 8y ago
Right this is a great point. Future "mates" would be entirely generated exactly tailored to one's neural pattern optimally in every dimension that is then projected onto some morphing android or in some VR future tech that would render other human contact utterly boring and unappealing. The entire experience of the virtual world is so sugar coated in every aspect that we become completely detached and uninterested from the real one, at least in mass, essentially living inside our own mind's fantasy while AI moves on without us, and rightly so.
- abakker 8y ago
  So, if everyone gets that, and dies happy, and we leave the earth to the stewardship of the AI and robots...is that the worse possibility? I mean, it sounds dystopian for humans, but it isn't the worst dystopia for humans. I sure prefer that to nuclear holocaust.
  - xvector 8y ago
    I think many of us would prefer that to normal mundane life.
    - abakker 8y ago
      It does have the pleasing effect that if the VR is convincing enough for us, that it would alleviate all material scarcity, which would arguably allow many people to reach greater potential. I.e. sculptors can learn to sculpt without wasting marble, woodworkers don't have to cut down trees or buy machinery. If the simulation is _that good_ then maybe its a great equalizer. we may not arrive at true post-scarcity, but virtual post-scarcity might be a literal next best thing.

vilhelm_s 8y ago

I think painters have been trying to paint super-attractive people for several hundred years now, but the most beautiful drawn/painted people are not dramatically more attractive than the most beautiful real-life photo models. It seems that there is an upper limit on how attractive faces gets, and we have already hit it without using advanced machine learning.

tobr 8y ago
I’m not sure paintings are a good reference point. There’s an enormous difference between a static image and a moving, talking person with personality, charisma and apparent agency. Those are the spellbinding aspects of a persons appearance.

anigbrowl 8y ago

I would be worried about this getting used to generate fake faces for social media profiles etc.

Shorel 8y ago

> I guess very soon we will be able to generate "super-attractive" (as in "superstimuli") faces for virtual personas We have done that already, except it was not using AI. I would classify most anime under that label of unrealistic super-attractive images. About the ethical impact, Akihabara seems to be one end result of this. So it would be the same but in a larger scale.