Woman Not 100% Convinced She Exists Following TikTok Filter Mishap

Ally Perry • Writer and Editor

May 25, 2021 11:00 AM EDT

In this hopelessly, technologically dependent world we live in, it can be testing enough trying to prove to captcha that you're not a robot. But what if things went a step further, and your phone refused to even recognize you exist?

It has been an unwelcome dilemma for Tiktoker @christibalisti, through her repeated mishaps with the app's shapeshifting filter. Allowing users to 'shift' from themselves to a pre-uploaded photo and vice versa, it has been used for everything from comparing celebrity lookalikes to pranking people.

Christi tried to participate in a trend where the filter is used to compare a baby photo with someone's current face to see how much they have changed. Unfortunately for her, the attempt fell flat when the app could not pick up her face at all in a family photo. Despite repeated attempts picking up on every single one of her family members, the filter refused to find her face — eventually choosing to transform from thin air instead.

@christibalisti
##stitch with @sailormarsbars According to TikTok filters I'm everyone BUT MYSELF 😂 ##SpotlightAPI ##fyp ##filters ##humor ##family ##filterfail ##cute
♬ It's Been A Long Long Time - Harry James

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In a follow-up video, she used another, photo where she was an older child. However, the process simply repeated itself all over again and understandably, brought up some uncomfortable questions.

via christibalisti

While the shapeshifting filter might be hesitant to recognize her, the entertainment it provided was anything but. It prompted commenters to go in some interesting directions, with some wondering if the same would happen with a more recent photo. Whatever the outcome, it proved that if you're going to have an AI-generated existential crisis, you may as well have it go viral.
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