Facial recognition has arrived to stay, our social profiles are within reach of anyone, and there is always a new project seeking to take advantage of that huge amount of data. In the case of PimEyes, the promise is to search faces the same way we search for text or a phrase. Its developers insist that they don't store any photos, but doubts don't disappear that easily...
The concept of reverse image search is nothing new. We upload an image (whether partial or total), wait a moment, and if the algorithmic gods allow it, its origin should appear (or alternatively, additional copies). However, facial recognition goes much deeper. When Facebook announced it several years ago, the web was immediately turned upside down, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. Add to that artificial intelligences, impressive processing power, and millions of available images... the conclusion is a single one: sooner or later, systems become very good at detecting faces.
PimEyes: Facial Recognition Just a Click Away
And so we arrive at PimEyes, a Polish service that at first glance behaves like a search engine, but works exclusively with images. The idea is for the user to upload multiple photos of the same person with the face visible, allowing the engine to analyze it with facial recognition, and compare it with millions of public sites. If there is a coincidence, it will present it immediately. Otherwise, PimEyes will share a series of results with different levels of 'confidence'. In other words, people with faces very similar to the one we are searching for.
Obviously, it makes no sense to search for celebrity faces because they have been recorded from every conceivable angle, and PimEyes simply delivers multiple sources of the same image. But after testing with some personal images (and already public), I've noticed that it doesn't do a great job... for now. It's all a matter of time and training, and its creators seem so convinced of their success that they already offer 'premium' services with personalized alerts (in case a new similar image appears), dedicated support, and API access.
The problems with PimEyes are quite obvious. On one hand, we only have its word. Saying that 'they don't store search images' is not enough these days. And on the other, everything depends on user behavior. Although similar tools already exist, the potential for 'stalking' and other harmful uses is enormous. PimEyes has barely arrived and already generates controversy. What do you think?
Official site: Click here
