A new photo of what Madeleine McCann might look like has been developed by advanced AI technology for her 17th birthday today.
As per reports, the creators hope the image can be used to help find her. Little Madeleine went missing from a Praia da Luz holiday apartment in Portugal back in 2007, just days before her 4th birthday.
Her parents, who were dining at a nearby tapas restaurant when the girl was taken, have campaigned since that day for continued searches to find her.
Her disappearance has stumped many a detective, remaining a mystery over the years. Today would mark Madeleine’s 17th birthday and there are hopes that she is out there somewhere in the world.
Bradford University professor Hassan Ugail used advanced AI to create a photo showing what missing Maddie could look like.
As per the Daily Star, Professor Ugail is “fairly sure” the image is an accurate representation. The computer-based modelling system used is said to be one of the best in the world.
“We have taken in a huge database of people from different ethnicities, different races and obviously different gender and we have asked the machine-learning algorithm to actually learn about how humans age,” Professor Ugail said.
“For example a caucasian, white female ages very differently to a white male – and drastically differently from a black or asian person.
“So all different races and genders age differently so we have taken that onboard with our algorithm and we can also filter in siblings, parental and other family matters as obviously people resemble others in their family so we also take this on board.”
He explained how the process works, stating that age of the person in the photo the computer is fed doesn’t matter all that much.
“We take a photo, it doesn’t matter what age the person is really, any age. So in the case of Madeleine it’s when she was three,” he said.
“Then first of all we get a picture of mum and dad and put it into the system and that provides our template and we put the age in as 17.
“When we say 17, we can’t guarantee that but it will be something like 15 to 17 in a two to three year range.
“That’s one reason we wanted to do this, to see if there’s any hope. Anybody who looks at this picture and will think ‘I know someone who looks like this’.
“Or even better if the police can run it through large databases and then identify potential looking people and then it can help with their investigation.”
Our thoughts and prayers are with Madeleine McCann. Lord, please wrap your arms around her and bring her home safely.
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