Transforming Old Photos with AI: My 'This Life - Next Life' Journey

[agingbb]

I've been playing a lot with generative AI.

One AI product I use is OpenAI's ChatGPT (chatgpt.com), which is a text-based chatbot. I pay for ChatGPT 4o and use it all the time, although it's free for light usage (4o is way better than 4 and 3.5). It's been great for brainstorming, getting suggestions and feedback, and summarizing large documents.

Another is AnimeGenius (animegenius.live3d.io), an image-to-image AI. I also pay for this, although it’s free for light usage. You upload an image, enter a text "prompt" describing how you want your uploaded image transformed, and it creates a new image for you. One benefit of AnimeGenius is that it’s NSFW, up to triple-X.

AnimeGenius in particular got me thinking about some old photos of myself and how I might imagine them in my fantasy "next life." So I created some "This Life - Next Life" pairs. Since I've always been a recreational bodybuilder, I thought some of you might be interested in those that include swimsuits or posing trunks.

I've attached three photo pairs. One is me at about age 23 ("this life"), and how I'd imagine myself in my "next life." The pose, swimsuit style, and background are retained, but the "next life" version is better looking, more muscular, and has blonde hair — everything I'd like in my next life, per my text prompt. (I'm not superficial, am I?)

Another pair is me at about age 40 and how I'd imagine myself in my "next life" — again, better looking and an advanced bodybuilder.

I've posted these in my home gym as light-hearted, aspirational sources of motivation when working out.

Finally, based on my first age 23 photo, but with a text prompt making him just a little older and a more advanced bodybuilder, is my AI workout buddy, Ethan. We can talk back and forth using ChatGPT voice I/O, and I can ask questions about exercises and form. He helps motivate me, too.

It's great fun, and I'd encourage everyone to try these AI products if you're interested.

Has anyone else tried using AI for something similar?

What are your thoughts on using AI for visual transformation and motivation?