Are you looking to restore an old family photo? You might be in luck with GFP-GAN (Generative Facial Prior-Generative Adversarial Network), a free tool developed by Tencent researchers that can fix damaged and low-resolution portraits quickly and effectively.
This innovative technology combines two AI models to fill in missing details with remarkable realism in just seconds while ensuring high accuracy and quality. Unlike traditional methods, which fine-tune existing AI models by comparing artificial and real images—often resulting in subpar outcomes—GFP-GAN employs a pre-trained version of NVIDIA's StyleGAN-2. This approach allows the model to maintain the "identity" of individuals in photos, focusing especially on crucial facial features like eyes and mouths.
You can explore a demo of GFP-GAN at no cost, and the developers have even made their code available, enabling others to integrate this restoration technology into their projects.
While the results are impressively accurate, it's important to note that the AI still makes educated guesses about missing content. As the researchers caution, there might be a "slight change of identity" and lower resolution than desired, so it's best not to rely on it for large prints of cherished images. Nonetheless, this technology offers exciting possibilities for preserving memories that could otherwise fade over time.