A group of researchers built a neural network powered by an extremely sophisticated algorithm with the purpose of simulating facial features and used the famous painting by Leonardo as an illustration of the new capability. The neural network "learned" the way that human faces move by churning through datasets gathered from three humans who looked somewhat like the woman in the famous painting. In three video clips, the woman in the painting turns her head and moves her lips.

Egor Zakharov of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology in Moscow explained the process in the video. The research team, which also involved Moscow's Samsung AI Center, produced similar animations of other famous 20th Century personalities, including Albert Einstein and Marilyn Monroe.