You’ve probably been impressed or even concerned about the advancements in artificial intelligence lately, but now prepare to be offended.
Longevity experts in New York City have developed an AI tool that estimates the age of your face based on a selfie photo.
It analyzes your face for six markers, including puffiness and wrinkles. A 39-year-old DailyMail.com employee who used the tool and was told she had the bags of someone in her late 40s said it “ruined my whole day.”
The face is a window into how quickly the rest of the body ages, with smoking, alcohol and pollution all draining nutrients from the skin, causing it to lose elasticity and develop wrinkles more quickly. A poor diet can also age the face by stimulating inflammation, which can also contribute to wrinkles.
To use the tool, you must be over 35 and click here:
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Above are two individuals who have used the tool. Stacy Liberatore, 39, on the left was given the same face age as her chronological age, or the number of years she’s been alive. She described the tool as “ruining my whole day.” Dr. Robert Lufkin, a radiologist at the University of Southern California, submitted this photo when he was 67 or 68 years old. The AI said he was 50 years old on average
Built by longevity company NOVOS, the artificial intelligence (AI) is based on more than 12 million photos of human faces.
The six factors it looks at are eye age and puffiness, as well as wrinkles, uniformity, pores, and facial redness.
To use the tool, people need to upload a clear image with their face in the middle. Results are sent via email within minutes.
NOVOS warns that poor lighting, camera quality and camera angle can affect results, as can lack of sleep or dehydration.
People who are too young to use the tool are likely to get an estimate ahead of their chronological age because it is not calibrated to age group. A chronological age is the number of years a person lives.
“While it’s accurate in most cases, it’s not perfect,” NOVOS said. “Please don’t take it personally.”
The AI was trained based on the estimated age of faces given by human raters during a lab session.
Using the patterns it picked up, the tool was then trained on an additional 12 million human faces to improve the accuracy of its estimates.
Stacy Liberatore, deputy scientific editor at DailyMail.com, is one of those who tested the tool.
She received scores for her puffiness and wrinkles that matched her chronological age, which she blamed on having a one-year-old.
“I recently looked back at pictures of myself before having a child and my face looks so young and the cheekbones are high,” she said.
“But now I have puffiness and wrinkles, and it’s just awful.” Thanks for ruining my whole day.”
A few hours later, she added, “I’ve gone out and bought a bunch of face creams now.”
Others who have used the tool include Dr. Robert Lufkin, a radiologist from the University of Southern California, who was told he had a face age of 50 when he was 68 or 69 years old. It also gave an estimated eye age of 53 years.
Dr. Lufkin said, “Maybe I shouldn’t smile so much (eye wrinkling).
“But I think it’s worth the extra three years to be able to freely express happiness.”
Joe Garma, who fights an aging blog, was told by the tool that he looked 18 years younger than his chronological age.
Longevity blogger Joe Gamma submitted this photo of himself when he was 59 years old. He was given an estimated face age of 41 years.
He submitted a photo from when he was 59 years old, but was given an estimate of 41 years for his face and 44 years for his eyes.
A youthful face usually has high cheekbones, full cheeks and a well-defined jawline. But as a person ages, these characteristics gradually fade.
In the skin, exposure to UV rays, cigarette smoke and pollutants leads to a gradual reduction in moisture content and elasticity.
When muscles move, it leads to the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles – which deepen as a person ages.
Skin cells also begin to take longer to regenerate and shed, leading to a buildup of dead skin cells on the surface that can make it appear dull, rough, and less smooth.
Puffiness may also appear around the eyes, as the fat that naturally supports the eyes sinks into the areas below.
However, this can also be caused by too little sleep, which can lead to fluid retention and dilated blood vessels around the eyes.
A multibillion-dollar industry has emerged dedicated to addressing these signs of aging by offering people injections, supplements, and unique facial exercises.
NOVOS says that to prevent skin aging, it’s worth applying sunscreen and taking supplements that can help slow aging.
To prevent eye bags, the company urged people to get enough sleep and take supplements to improve aging and skin health.