ZAO, which means "make" or "manufacture" in Chinese, allows users to upload a selfie and then place that picture on top of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Chow Yun Fat using AI technologies. Savvy social media users started posting videos starring themselves in footage taken from blockbuster movies or hit TV series over the weekend.
But it quickly drew just as much criticism over privacy concerns. Users will need to agree to clauses that allow the company to use their original photos, synthesized photos and videos for free and for good on a global scale.
The company also retains the right to make modifications of these photos using technologies, and allegedly gave ZAO permission to use their faces for marketing purposes.
同时，公司还将保留使用技术修改这些照片的权利，并且据称还将给予ZAO将这些照片用于营销目的的权利。
The facial pictures uploaded to ZAO belong to "personal sensitive information" that should not be leaked, illegally provided or abused. Therefore the above clauses represent a violation of a national standard on personal information and impeachment of user privacy, said Wang Zheng, a lawyer at Zhejiang Taihang Law Firm.
"Another risk is on intellectual property rights. ZAO stated that the majority of synthesized videos or emojis submitted by users do not have intellectual property rights. That has literally prevented the platform from any legal disputes should any problems occur, with users bearing all there sponsibilities," Wang said.
During the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai that concluded on Saturday, Tencent Holdings Ltd Chairman Pony Ma, who has proposed the principles of "understandable","controllable","usable and reliable" in the adoption of AI, said there is a pressing need for governance over AI as technologies are reshaping lives and revolutionizing industries in an unprecedented manner.
"While ZAO's protocols are highly controversial, the app itself seems to really make people happy," said Cheng Mingxia, assistant dean of Tencent Research Institute.
