An AI service predicting unborn babies’ faces has gained popularity among parents in China.
Advertised on e-commerce platforms, the service claims it can “predict your baby’s future face from their four-dimensional ultrasound image,” and has gone viral. Tens of thousands of customers have paid for the service, which costs between 10 yuan (US$1.4) to 30 yuan on China’s largest e-commerce platform, Taobao, owned by Alibaba.
Providers claim they can use AI to generate a picture of a newborn baby’s face from one or more ultrasound images. Ultrasound scans, usually performed between 18 and 22 weeks of pregnancy to check the baby’s health, can sometimes reveal the baby’s gender. Some parents also use these scans to see what their baby might look like.
In 2020, a mother in Anhui province, eastern China, was emotional after seeing her ultrasound image, stating she had “never seen a baby this ugly.”
One Taobao shop said it uses the generative AI program Midjourney for this process. After inputting ultrasound images and a few text prompts, Midjourney generates four pictures for parents to choose from. Some shops charge more to refine the photos, which can take 30 to 120 minutes to complete.
However, the likeness and clarity of the AI-generated faces are not reliable. The results are random and change based on different text prompts. A user on Xiaohongshu noted her AI-generated baby’s face looked like any other AI-generated face.
Service providers cannot guarantee accuracy, claiming an “80 to 90 per cent” similarity to the ultrasound faces. Some shops even offer to predict children’s faces up to the age of five.
Critics argue the idea is flawed. Ultrasound scans are not accurate representations of a baby’s face, as they are composite images from multiple angles. Additionally, the face might be blurred if the baby was moving during the scan.
Parents often see the service as entertainment or a lucky charm rather than a serious, scientific process. In one comment section, a customer called the service a “blind box,” saying, “Let’s see if my baby will look like the AI image or not. Wish me luck giving birth.”
