Finns have also taken part in the challenge that has become an Instagram phenomenon, where users are encouraged to publish pictures of themselves at the age of 21. It is possible to use pictures for a purpose that not everyone has thought of.
In recent weeks, millions of people have shared photos of themselves at the age of 21 on Instagram. It is a phenomenon started by the initiative of one American user. All Over Press
In recent weeks, a photo challenge has been circulating on social media, especially Instagram, in which users are encouraged to publish pictures of themselves from their teenage years.
The challenge, which is still actively spreading in the Stories section of Instagram, asks for photos specifically of the 21-year-old self. About the topic with news of The New York Times millions of users, mainly millennials, have taken part in it.
The trend was started by an Arizonan Damian Ruffwho posted a freely shareable story base on his public Instagram account.
– Let others participate too. Let’s see what you looked like when you were 21, he said in a story challenge that later went viral.
“I myself never participate”
Although participating in the photo challenge started by Ruffi may seem like a harmless pastime, the information writer and information security expert reminds Petteri Järvinen from the possible flip side of the coin.
– These pictures may be used to train artificial intelligence on how people age and look for the same people in other old pictures on the internet, Järvinen tells Iltalehte.
– I never participate in photo challenges myself, and I don’t recommend them to others either, he continues.
Järvinen urges you to act carefully if you also see other people in your youth photo.
– Old pictures can contain embarrassing situations or other people who don’t want their old pictures on the internet.
Meta confirmed that it is training AI with images of people
Technology publication Ars Technica told in December how Instagram and Facebook’s background company Meta has used no fewer than 1.1 billion publicly available photos on social media to train its own artificial intelligence image generator.
If you want to even somewhat limit the use of your photos for such purposes, you should tighten the privacy settings of your account. According to Meta’s own words, private account images are not used in the development of artificial intelligence.
Sources: The New York Times, Ars Technica