AI technology has been used in many fields, and it is now playing an increasingly important role in matters of public interest.
A group of students at Huazhong University of Science and Technology（HUST) has developed an AI system that restores (修复）old photos of missing children. Until now, they have been providing
technological support for many parents with over 1, 000 restored photos and helped reunite (使重聚）11 missing children with their families.
The team was set up by Sheng Jianzhong three years ago, when he was a student at HUST. He first thought to restore photographs of missing children when he came across a missing child notice with a poor-quality photo in 2020. As he was studying digital image processing (数字图像处理）at school, he decided to use his skills to help the parents restore their images.
But the system cannot be completed by one person alone. Luckily, many like-minded students soon volunteered to join Sheng's project.
After six months of hard work, they produced an image restoration AI system that solved the problem of unclear faces in photographs. A restored image can be generated in just a few minutes. Parents can then print the high-quality images of their missing children onto T-shirts or large posters.
In many cases, the team doesn't have direct contact with the families. And sometimes the families don't even know the team has helped them. "But we still feel satisfied, and we are happy for them," Sheng said.
In the future, Sheng plans to build a more professional team. "It would use technology to help people who have lost their loved ones, and also encourage more young talents to work for a good cause," he said.
①Who developed it.
②What it is used for.
③When it was created.
④How many children it has helped to return home.
