AI application creates anime images causing fever in Vietnam

The Loopsie app that creates comic-style photos is going viral, but experts warn of the risk of "trading data for a few minutes of online fun".

Since mid-August, social networks such as Facebook and Instagram have been flooded with anime-style portraits and landscapes created by Loopsie, which operates on iPhone. On the App Store on the afternoon of August 23, Loopsie rose to become the most downloaded application in Vietnam.

Loopsie became the most downloaded app on iPhone on August 23. Photo: Luu Quy

"It's never been easier to create cartoons," said Duc Duy, a 25-year-old office worker in Hanoi . Since learning about the new app earlier this week, he has tried turning a series of his photos into cartoons to post on Facebook. "Most of the results are quite satisfactory, although there are some situations where the recognition is wrong, such as in photos with many details or complex details," Duy commented.

Having used many photo editing apps, Duy assessed that Loopsie on iPhone has the same operating mechanism as most current applications. Users just need to upload photos, then the application recognizes and recreates them into paintings in different styles. The new feature that makes Loopsie popular in Vietnam is the filter called Old School Anime, which supports creating in Japanese animation style.

Meanwhile, Ngoc Anh (Hanoi) said she has loved comics since she was a child. When her friends showed off their photo-simulated pictures, she immediately tried it and was interested from the first time. "Unlike previous applications that only focused on faces, Loopsie recreates and changes the surrounding scenery, so the images are beautiful and colorful," she said.

However, the downside is that the application is completely automatic, users cannot intervene. In some cases, the application automatically adds details that make the result different from the original. For example, the application automatically adds clothes and hair to photos of people swimming in the sea or photos of people with bald heads.

Loopsie recreates selfies in anime form. Photo: Ngoc Anh

Loopsie was launched in 2018 by an Italy-based company that previously focused on creating animations and videos from still images. After the rise of AI technology specializing in images late last year, the developer added a feature related to artistic photos. This feature is only available on iOS, not yet available on Android devices.

To use, users need to download the app with a capacity of nearly 200 MB, and at the same time allow the app to access the photo library. Actual testing shows that creating a photo takes about 20-30 seconds, with a maximum width of 1,024 pixels.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Khanh, founder of the Antory project, which specializes in applying AI to comic creation, the application of turning photos into realistic drawings has existed for a long time. However, thanks to the integration of advanced AI solutions such as Stable Diffusion , Loopsie brings higher quality works, closer to the original image, with a simple experience and can be done right on the phone. "This may be the reason why this application is of interest to many people," Mr. Khanh assessed.

For long-term use, users need to pay a fee of VND69,000 per week or a maximum of VND1.35 million per year. According to Mr. Khanh, this is not a small amount of money for the need to make photos "for fun" of many Vietnamese people. However, in addition to the ability to create photos to post on social networks, the founder of AIcomic believes that users can completely take advantage of the tool to build products such as comics and short animated films. "With such potential, the amount of money spent is not too high, especially when current AI applications require a large amount of computer resources, which means the cost of creating pictures is not small," he said.

Personal data risks

However, similar to other photo-related applications, Loopsie requires access to the user's photo library, phone camera, and some other permissions such as email information, Internet access. In addition to supporting the creation of photos and videos, this data can also be used for advertising, contacting users, and analyzing applications, thereby posing potential risks to personal data.

Additionally, upon download, Loopsie requires users to sign up for a minimum weekly subscription to use it. This amount will be charged after three free days. In case users do not want to maintain, users can go to Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions and customize with Loopsie subscription.

According to Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Technology Director at NSC cybersecurity company, editing and creating effects for photos is always an indispensable need of users with the desire to have many unique and strange works as desired. With the support of AI, these applications are increasingly attractive and quickly become popular and spread to many users.

However, he noted: "To process the photo, the image will be uploaded to the service provider's server. Therefore, there is a risk of data leakage. Users should not put sensitive, private photos in the app."

In addition, when "handing over" many photos to another system, users no longer have control over their own images. "If the photo archive falls into the wrong hands, they can teach AI, use deepfake to create fake photos and videos for different purposes, even fraud," Mr. Son warned. "In all situations, even with the new trend, users need to be careful, should not trade personal data, especially their facial data, for a few minutes of fun on social networks."

Vnexpress.net