TikTok’s Viral ‘Time Travel’ Filter Lets You See Your Future Self
A new artificial intelligence (AI) powered “Time Travel” filter — that lets people see how their faces will age in real time — has gone viral on TikTok.
TikTok’s Time Travel filter, which was released by an independent creator in October, has been used in over 1.5 million videos in recent days.
@aylennpark watching my mom grow old made me so emotional🥹👵 #agefilter #momanddaughter ♬ Can't Help Falling in Love – Elvis Presley
The filter applies generative AI to a subject’s face to show them what they will look like each year ahead as they age through time, with the future year written in text above their face.
TikTok users have been left stunned by the Time Travel filter’s realism and accuracy in showing how their face slowly gets older over time. The AI-powered filter highlights how wrinkles and sunspots gradually develop on a person’s face and how facial fat dissolves and gravity pulls everything downward over the years.
@lottiemossx I look genuinelt terrifying at the end
According to The Washington Post, camera filters that artificially age a person has been around for years. In 2019, both Snapchat and FaceApp had popular versions of the technology available on its platforms.
However The Washington Post reports that recent advancements in AI imaging are making the results of these camera filters more realistic, possibly by using machine learning trained on young and old images of real faces.
Board certified dermatologist Aleksandra Brown tells the publication that the TikTok time travel filter is the most accurate that she has seen in predicting how a given face would age, including details like skin texture and muscle positions.
The Washington Post describes how a person’s future self used to be a mystery, but now AI technology in social media filters has enabled individuals to stare at their future “right in the face.”
How to Use The TikTok Time Travel Filter
To use the filter, TikTok users need to input “Time Travel filter” in the main search field and tap the filter with the icon that shows one-half of a woman’s face aged.
They will then need to tap “Use this effect” on the Time Travel filter’s screen. From there, TikTok users can select various years to see what they will look like in any of the forthcoming future decades.
However, to see their face change in real time, TikTok users need to select the “Auto mode” option. They will then need to tap the red record button to capture a video with the filter.
This is not the first time an AI filter has taken over TikTok. Earlier this year, PetaPixel reported on a viral TikTok beauty filter called “Bold Glamor” that left users shocked and concerned about how dangerously realistic it was.
Image credits: Header photo via TikTok/@lottiemossx.
