Bloopers & News 03/16/25
Say hi to your grandpa!
Back in November of 2023, I wrote a chapter of my graphic novel which speculated about using A.I. to bring old photographs to life. Here is an excerpt:
The past few weeks I’ve been getting this ad in my Instagram feed advertising an app that will animate your photos.
Of course I had to try it. I used an app called MyHeritage. I started with a picture of me and Roberto (I highly recommend reading this post in your browser so you can see the animated photos).
Photo:
With AI animation:
Hahahhaa. We have teeth like Jim Carrey in The Mask.
I assume this is because we both have closed-lip smiles in the original. (In the animation, Roberto basically has no upper lip. He says he looks more like Fire Marshall Bill than The Mask.)
Next I tried this picture of my grandparents on their honeymoon.
Original:
With AI animation:
I think it’s pretty amazing. I’m sure my grandparents would say that the video looks nothing like them, but since I never met them at this age, I find it totally fascinating.
I suspect that Millennials and GenZers won’t find this as fascinating as Boomers and GenXers, since they have been filmed and recorded their entire lives. As a 52 year old, I don’t have one video of myself as child.
Next was a favorite picture of my mother as a teenager in the 60s.
Original:
Animated:
Some of her hair moves with her head but half of it doesn’t, which is unnerving. I added color and animated it again:
It’s funny that the light shining on her head gave her a blonde skunk streak, which I feel confident my mother never had. Plus, only half of her face moves, like she had a stroke.
All of these examples have problems that I can easily make fun of, but I think we can all agree they are pretty freakin’ good. We can’t be far from them being excellent.
In my fictional(?) graphic novel animating photos is the first step on the way to making A.I. versions of dead people. And why not? Doesn’t everyone want to actually talk and interact with their deceased love ones?
In my story this becomes illegal because the religious right thinks it is a sin, but I suspect if and when it becomes a lucrative business, not even religion will be able to stop it.
See you next week for the SERIES FINALE of my graphic novel.