Deepfake me: Are there risks to uploading your face for AI s...

MUNICH: Upload a photo to an AI-based image generator and see yourself made into an action figure or a Barbie doll in its retail box. It's a fun gimmick but there are definite downsides, data protection advocates warn, noting how easy it also is for your face to be deepfaked onto naked photos or pornographic footage. The problem is that many image generators save the photo you upload - and perhaps also your personal data such as IP or email address. You reveal more than you think and lose control, warns Mimikama, a fact-checking site based in Austria that seeks to educate people about online abuse. "In addition to your own image, data such as name, place of residence and hobbies can also be involved, depending on what the user inputs," says Katharina Grasl of the Bavarian Consumer Centre in Germany. From a photo, AI can recognise someone's face, age, posture, and emotions, says Mimika...