Facebook's new camera feature is about much more than photos

Facebook recently began testing a new camera feature that makes photos and live video look like famous works of art.

At first glance, the effects look cool, though not hugely different from those you would get on a number of other image editing apps. You'd be forgiven for dismissing the feature as yet another attempt by the social network to compete with Snapchat.

But, behind the scenes, the feature represents one of the company's most significant AI advancements and one that will could help power more artificial intelligence applications.