‘This is a stalker’s dream’
There is a website online that you can use to find every picture of yourself – or someone else – on the internet.
Artificial intelligence is becoming more and more accessible for the general public thanks to websites such as ChatGPT that are opening up a whole world of possibilities for the average Joe.
But there are some pretty creepy ways AI can be used as well, such as the website PimEyes.
This is a reverse-image search site that uses facial recognition technology to find every photo of a person that’s ever been posted to the internet.
If you upload a photo of the person you want to find, PimEyes will scour the internet to match that person’s face to others.
Of course, the system isn’t 100 percent perfect and will probably throw up quite a few lookalikes of the person, but it’s still scarily accurate.
Unlike sites such as ChatGPT though, there is a cost to pay if you want to access this tech, with payment plans varying from between $29.99 and $299.99 per month.
People have taken to Twitter reacting to the website, with AI expert Rowan Cheung labelling it “the most disturbing AI website on the internet.”
He said he was “shocked by the speed and accuracy” of the platform, adding that it was “super creepy.”
The website claims its purpose is to allow people to “reclaim image right and monitor your online presence”, and says it can be used to “defend yourself from scammers, identity thieves, or people who use your image illegally.”
For example, if you come across an image of yourself that you don’t want to be used online, PimEyes allows you to set up an alert when this image is ever uploaded somewhere on the internet.
PimEyes then works with a professional service to scrub the image from the source, Indy100 reports.
But some believe the software could be used for more malicious intentions, in particular stalking.
PimEyes states in its terms of service that “if data security unit reveals abuse of service, such as stalking, violation of children’s privacy rights, account will be banned permanently without right to refund.”