Students use AI to track down missing loved ones

Sheng Jianzhong (right) hands over a restored photo of Chen Hao to Chen's mother, in Tongcheng, Hubei province, in March. After six months, Chen and his family were reunited. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A team of students at Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Hubei province is reuniting families with lost loved ones through the use of artificial intelligence technology.

The 30-strong team has developed an artificial intelligence system that restores old photographs so that they can be better used to identify missing persons.

In the past three years since the team has been using this software, thousands of photos have been restored and 11 missing persons have been reunited with their families. The team's AI technology has increased the odds of finding missing children, reduced search times and brought hope to many families.

Sheng Jianzhong, a 26-year-old artificial intelligence engineer who leads the team, was inspired by a message about a local family searching for their lost child, but the portraits they provided were blurry and hard to make out.

"These blurry photos could barely be used even if the child was nearby," said Sheng.

Recognizing the limitations of such images, Sheng decided to apply his knowledge of digital image processing to restore the photos of lost children.

Utilizing AI image restoration, Sheng assembled a team to use the technology to restore the facial features of lost children and assist police in conducting facial comparisons with their photo library. This process has helped narrow potential matches by identifying groups with similar facial features.

After more than six months of dedicated research and development, the team completed development of an AI algorithm for image restoration that addresses the core problem of blurry faces.

A restored image can be generated just minutes after a blurry portrait is entered into the system, significantly improving the resolution and the clarity of facial features. Parents are then able to print high-quality images of their missing children onto T-shirts and large posters.

"Now more and more people from outside Hubei are coming to seek our help, and we are willing to cooperate with the police and provide free services to help repair photos and restore the images of lost children for them," Sheng said.