FaceApp: How accurate are the forecasts?

You might think that every person you've ever met uses FaceApp for the moment.

Your calendar has been flooded with boarding schools that have posted pictures of what they might look like later.

The application has its critics. There have been warnings about how its creators use your data – and an American politician even wants the FBI to investigate this data.

But what is the accuracy of the results of the application? We posted celebrity photos of their youth to see how they compare to now.

Sir Ian McKellen

The application looks great with Sir Ian McKellen, aka Gandalf, in The Lord of the Rings.

The photo on the left was taken in the late twenties in 1968. The middle one is the one that was worked by FaceApp and the one on the right, the one where Sir Ian played Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past – 75 years.

Newsbeat rating: 10/10. Solid.

Sir David Attenborough

Yeah, not too bad.

Taken in 1965, on the left, Sir David Attenborough, 39 years old. The middle photo is the result obtained after going through the application and right, earlier this year, at the age of 93 years old.

Newsbeat rating: 7/10. Great effort.

Dolly Parton

OK, it's probably not the best.

On the left, Dolly Parton, singer of the country and general icon of the general, had reached the beginning of her thirties in 1977. She is centered after the call of entry and the right was earlier in 2019, at 73 years.

If anything, she is better aged than the app did.

Newsbeat rating: 2/10. Requires a lot of improvement.

Lady Judi Dench

On the left, the legendary actress Dame Judi Dench was 33 years old in 1967. In the middle? You guessed it. After browsing the application. Right, in 2019, 84 years old.

If anything, we do not think that the James Bond actor would be too happy with the results.

Newsbeat rating: 6/10. Try harder.

Arnold Schwarzenegger

It's pretty decent, to be fair.

On the left, a picture of a young Austrian actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 1976. The middle photo is after he's been treated by the application. On the right, politician Arnold Schwarzenegger is photographed in 2019, at the age of 74 years.

Newsbeat rating: 8/10. Pretty impressive.

What is FaceApp?

By Chris Baraniuk, BBC Technology Reporter

FaceApp is not new. He made headlines two years ago with his "filters of ethnicity".

These pretended to transform the faces of one ethnic group into another – a characteristic that triggered a brutal reaction and was soon abandoned.

The application can however turn empty or grumpy expressions into smiling expressions. And that can change makeup styles.

The application also works on painted portraits – although the effect is sometimes unnerving.

This is done with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). An algorithm takes the input image of your face and adjusts it according to other images.

This allows for example to insert a toothy smile while adjusting the lines around the mouth, chin and cheeks for a natural look.

• Read more: Can you trust FaceApp with your face?

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