With it, Mexico, a beacon of hope is emerging amidst the heart-wrenching stories of the thousands of disappeared individuals. With over 134,000 people still unaccounted for, two innovative AI tools are being crafted to assist families in their desperate search for answers.
Veronica Rosas embodies the anguish felt by countless mothers searching for their lost children, plunged into a grim reality shaped by violent cartel conflicts. Veronica’s son, Diego, was abducted by a criminal gang 11 years ago, but the shadows of uncertainty remain. The prosecutor’s office still hasn’t identified which group was responsible, leaving her with unanswered questions about Diego’s fate.
“It’s been 11 long years, and I still don’t know where Diego is. There’s no investigation moving us closer to understanding what happened to my son,” Veronica shared with emotion during one of the many demonstrations in Mexico City advocating for justice.
Amid this turmoil, hope shines through with the development of groundbreaking AI tools, such as Regresa (Return), born of collaboration between leading universities in Mexico. This pioneering tool harnesses anthropometry, or human body measurements, to recreate the faces of missing minors—who remain forever young in grim posters—illustrating how they might have aged over the years.
Families have long sought updated images as investigations drag on for years, yearning for visual reminders of their loved ones. While countries like the United States, India, and China utilize facial recognition and age progression technology to aid in finding abducted children, Mexico’s use of similar methods has largely relied on open-source photo databases that often fail to capture the unique characteristics of its people.
Regresa takes a fresh approach by creating its own image bank, meticulously compiling hundreds of photos and data from 75 volunteers to generate portraits that reflect typically Mexican features.
Anthropologist Ana Juarez, one of the brilliant minds behind the project, emphasizes the tool’s scientific rigor: “Many software programs focus solely on facial outlines or textures, or simply apply filters to simulate aging. Our goal is to develop a scientific framework that showcases how a person’s facial structure evolves,” she explains, referring to the intricate process of modeling craniofacial growth.
Veronica’s quest for answers is deeply personal. Diego disappeared at just 16 years old in the central town of Ecatepec, after leaving home to meet friends. As the families continue their fight for justice, the promise of technology like Regresa offers a glimmer of hope that one day, they may reclaim their lost loved ones.