Quite some years back, I was traveling through Addis Ababa Airport (Ethiopia) when I noticed that the lady at the airport counter looked strangely familiar.
“Are you from India?” I asked.
“No,” she smiled, and after a pause added, “But my grandmother was.”
That moment stayed with me. It’s fascinating how, even without knowing someone, we can sometimes feel where they’re from — their face, expressions, or something subtle in their features quietly reminds us of a place or people we know.
What are these subtle cues our mind picks up on — the eyebrows, nose line, cheeks, forehead, jawline — or perhaps the overall pattern that our brain has subconsciously trained itself to recognize? Even though we recognize the overall origin, we can’t quite identify the rules that define it — as if it’s meant to stay a little mysterious.
Interestingly, that’s exactly how AI models work — especially in facial recognition or pattern learning. They don’t focus on one single feature but rather on a complex web of small details that together form recognizable patterns. These are stitched together — a kind of map within a map within a map (n).
Recently, I came across apps that can trace ancestral lineage from a face photo. It’s fascinating how technology is beginning to simulate what our intuition has been doing naturally for ages — seeing patterns that connect us all, often in ways we can’t quite explain.
