How an AI Cuts You Out of a Photo — 24 Million Decisions at a Time

Automated excerpt

Tap "remove background" and something has to happen to every single pixel. Now find the exact pixel where "person" stops and "background" begins. White means 100%: "this pixel is fully person. " Black means 0%: "fully background. " And the grays in between are the whole reason this works: a middle gray at the edge of a curl means "this pixel is about half hair. " This ghost image has a name: the alpha matte.

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