I completely accept AI will rule the world and I use it tepidly. Mostly because I don’t know how to access it. I am on Flickr and Facebook and anything AI there I completely ignore. Some of it is frankly creepy. It’s not real, but hey, whatever makes you happy…
I am on various acting/model related platforms and recently got an email about a headshot sale. $25. I figured, what the heck, I’m interested. A photoshoot opportunity for such a great price, why not? Well, it ended up being a local theater community that would take a bunch of photos you provide and create various headshots using AI. Skeptical, I dipped my toe in the water. These are the photos I submitted:
A wide variety of pictures. All very recent. This is the example I got back:
That really kinda looks like me, with the exception of the perfect chin. The hair is mine, the necklace is mine, the single dimple is me and that smile is certainly me. The lips are me, the bags under the eyes, how the makeup is done, all me. It is the essence of me.
So, I tell them, show me what you can do. They then sent me quite a few more, with watermarks. If I wanted the finished product, I would have to pay. I ask, are they $25 per photo? No, it’s $25 for all of them. I then figured WTF, let’s do it.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is what I bought.
Money well spent! Yes, a few of them look (I am creating a new word here) very AI-y, but a few are actually very representative. The dour picture is definitely not me. Sure, they are perfect, but I have had professional makeovers where I did look perfect, given the tools I have been given to work with (big honker, shaving-ravaged chin, well-earned eye bags). I know my assets and yes, that smile, rarely seen in any photo pre-2014, is my calling card. It is how I get away with everything I get away with.
I am torn about using these for professional purposes. I don’t want to be tagged as an AI creation and therefore excluded from casting. I have been extremely fortunate with the most recent two casting calls, with submissions from my selfie-taken catalog. I have been selected by two different productions to be a paid BG (background). I will admit, these do look like me, not an animated version of sort-of-me. Some of them show the flaws I have, the reality of being a human being.
Anyone interested in who did this for me can reach me through the Contact page here and I will provide the information. I cannot recommend them enough. Nice work!
Recently I was bouncing around on the TV (Roku) and saw the YouTube app. I am not a big YouTuber, but I went on and pulled up my YouTube channel. I have done nothing with it in about 3 years. I watched video after video of myself on the TV as I only saw them before on my PC (yeah, we all have egos) and was in tears looking at some of the things I posted. Check them out here! I have to do more of this, but for the life of me, I have no idea how I edited everything together (as amateurish as it was). The video of my adventure to walk New York Fashion Week was such a trip down loss-of-memory lane! It was an out-of-body experience, not believing I had actually pulled that off and that it was as amazing as it really was.
9 Responses
Second row, second column is scary!! Not someone to mess with, I think!
I love AI but in moderation and it’s important to have boundaries. As I’ve reported here before, I used to use FaceApp to tidy up photos but it ultimately felt fraudulent so I accepted my imperfections and stopped using it. However, you’ve raised an interesting question so here’s my 4p worth (that’s 5 cents worth but the bureau de change isn’t open yet!).
The obvious answer to should you use an AI enhanced headshot is no. It’s not a real depiction of you and the use of AI is obvious once you know the signs to look for. However, it may not be that straightforward, particularly if it becomes the norm in the industries you operate in and a non-AI shot compares unfavourably with submissions from other people. But there again, a non-AI shot in a sea of doctored images may be a breath of fresh air to casting directors! Presumably headshots are similar to CVs, their purpose is to get you in front of the people that matter but then it’s up to you in which case there’s no easy answer. Looking at the images you posted, with the exception of the aforementioned scary one, they seem close enough to the real you to be usable but if it was me, I’d probably use one as a headline image but add a few undoctored images to the ‘portfolio’ too.
As a related aside, I love using AI to recreate outfits, either ones I’ve worn but didn’t photograph or ones I’m thinking about putting together.
Amanda,
That ‘scary one’ is her court room attorney back ground look, the vindictive fierce prosecutor.
I have avoid using Ai for various reason. One is you no longer own those images and two, the sustainability issues Ai forces on the environment.
I don’t know what to say. This whole AI thing bothers me.
I’m way too simple to get on board. The AI train has left the station and I’m still on the platform, and very happy.
Jocelyn
PS – I have seen some news stories about AI, and the huge data centres required cobble up vast amounts of electricity. I think those billions of dollars could be better spent.
I spent the last few days trying on various items and in different combinations
More fun doing it analog style
You take your time dressing up in front of a mirror. NOT your AI tool
But its great to use it for mood boards
Hugs Brenda
I particularly love second row on right, third row on left and fourth row on right.
I think as Amanda says, these should only be for non-professional purposes. They can help give you an idea how you would look in various styles of dress. They are fun for the fantasy, like playing with dolls. They can guide you on makeup tips. But I think they would serve no purpose for acting work. I think that casting directors need to see you as you are when you walk into the room. Their skill is interpreting how you can fit into their project. Whether through makeup or CGI, they visualize what they want to do to make you fit. The AI headshots take this away from them.
That being said, I would love to try the process myself. I have done numerous photo shoots for my personal benefit, and would like to try this service.
I think you look fantastic just the way you are. It can be fun to do something like that just to see what you would look like twenty years younger. I want people to see how I actually look. I am proud of the work I go through to be the woman I want to be. It’s is hard work making that transformation and I am not presenting as a perfect woman, but it is who I am.
As long as I am not fooling people with AI it is a fun thing to try out.
Kandi,
I guess we could ask what is the difference between actors using enhanced AI images or using very dated images , either way they take a chance on being turned down for the part .
Like Jocelyn I’m very wary of AI , it could be a dangerous road to travel down not knowing what is real and what is fake .
To most crossdressers AI could be a great deal of fun but don’t try and fool people with it , you will get caught out !. Being full time and out everyday as Teresa I have to accept I’m seen ” warts and all ! ” What they see ( and hear ) is what they get , I’m far from perfect but no one else is either .
I admit in the past I had so much fun with Photoshop and other photo packages , I wore outfits that I could possibly be locked up for ! Some did get posted on forum sites .Nowdays if you want to know what an outfit looks like go try it on , if you feel comfortable asking other shoppers or SAs then it could be a keeper ( depending on the price ) .
HI Kandi – As so often is the case I’m late to the party on this one, but I feel compelled to weigh in anyway. When you first posted these on Flickr I thought you had seen a really excellent pro photographer – they are absolutely lovely! However, I now realize that my point of view – as a person not having enough experience to be able to tell the difference – is exactly the point. I’m sure any casting person would make the recognition, so as good as they look I would not use them for those purposes if that is your goal. A great photographer could get you there, as has been the case in some of your other fine photoshoots. Fun perhaps, but it cannot replace the human touch – at least not yet, and I so hope it never does!
Kris
I appreciate the input, Kris! I am not someone who does any AI photos of myself, but for the cost, I found it an interesting experiment.