In the future we may have to use neural networks to defeat neural networks.

The popularity of neural networks has skyrocketed ever since Google released the source code last month to part of its artificial neural network system dubbed DeepDream. The artificial intelligence program is what Google's search engine uses to sort and categorize images online. The program learns to do this as it sifts through thousands of labeled images such as "starfish," "bird," or "banana," and begins to recognize each distinct thing. The program can also be used to generate images of its own, however it often gets confused and creates beautiful and sometimes frightening chimeras of slug dogs, bird cars, and amoeba-like houses.

Although we are in the beginning stages of this technology, neural networks are already very effective at categorizing and tracing. This has software developer Kirk Kaiser wary about the future of privacy. So he conducted an experiment on whether he could throw a wrench into Facebook's face recognition system, DeepFace by distorting his image using DeepDream.

"Every time somebody takes a photo of you or you upload a photo of yourself, it's added to the training data set that exists in the ether of who and what you are," says Kaiser. "The general idea is to corrupt the data set that exists on us and get back a little bit of control."