ChatGPT Ghibli Studio: These days, social media is flooded with pictures made in Ghibli style with the help of OpenAI’s ChatGPT 4o. Be it Facebook or Instagram or X, people are sharing their Ghibli pictures in abundance everywhere. People are not only sharing their own photos with AI to get pictures made in Ghibli style, but they are also sharing pictures of their families, even small children. But, are the people doing such things unaware of the fact that by doing so, they are not only sharing the data of their photos with AI companies, but they are also unknowingly handing over their facial recognition to them?

Your face is being stolen everyday

It is not that we are handing over our facial recognition to AI companies only because of Ghibli. In fact, we give our photos to AI companies every day. Whether it is to unlock the phone, to tag on social media or to use any service. Understand it this way, when we post photos on social media or give camera access to apps, we often ignore its danger. The result is that AI companies scan and store the unique dimensions of our face. This data is more dangerous than passwords or credit card numbers because you can change them but if your face gets stolen, you can’t change it.

There is a habit of taking things lightly

One problem with Indians is that they have a habit of taking everything lightly. This is the reason why we ignored many such incidents in the past, which were warning us that we should avoid such dangers. The Clearview AI controversy was one such incident. In fact, Clearview AI was accused of creating a database by stealing 3 billion photos from social media, news sites and public records without permission and selling it to the police and private companies.

Australian company Outabox

In addition, in May 2024, data of the Australian company Outabox was leaked, in which facial scans, driving licenses and addresses of 1.05 million people were stolen. This data was put on a site called ‘Have I Been Outaboxed’. Victims complained of mistaken identity, distress and identity theft. Even the FRT systems used to prevent theft in shops are a target of hackers. Once stolen, this data is sold in the black market, leading to scams like synthetic identity fraud or creating deepfakes.

Who is making money from your face?

The market for Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) was $5.01 billion in 2021, which is estimated to reach $12.67 billion by 2028. Companies like Meta and Google are accused of training their AI models using users’ photos, but they do not share this information. Sites like PimEyes allow anyone to search online using their photo, which increases the risk of stalking.

You can avoid this danger

If you want to avoid this danger, first of all stop this gibble-gibble. Apart from this, avoid uploading high-resolution photos on social media. Use PIN or password instead of face unlock. Apart from this, pressure should be put on the government and companies to tell how your biometric data is being used. However, these will only prove to be temporary measures. Real change will come only when governments ban the illegal use of Facial Recognition Technology and make strict rules to control AI.