The Italian police recently arrested Matteo Messina Denaro, the alleged leader of the Sicilian Mafia who has been on the run since 1993. To aid in the search, the Carabinieri issued an artificially aged image to show what he might look like now.
Artists have traditionally made these images by altering old photos of the suspect – adding wrinkles, hair loss and other common aspects of ageing. But in recent years there has been a move towards using computer systems that employ machine learning, a much more sophisticated and formalised way of changing people’s faces.
We can’t predict with certainty how a person will look years after their last available photo, but these images can still help police. Here’s how the technology has developed.
