AI creates Futuruma characters in real life and it’s incredibly unsettling
Topics: News, World News, Film and TV, Artificial Intelligence
Kit Roberts
Featured Image Credit: X/@demonflyingfox
Topics: News, World News, Film and TV, Artificial Intelligence
An AI-generated version of hit animation Futurama has people disturbed with the weird interpretation.
After The Simpsons, it's Matt Groening's most well-known animated series, but now someone has used an AI engine to give an indication of how the sci-fi series may have looked as a live-action show.
It's safe to say that the results are quite mixed, with some of the characters having that trademark AI uncanny-valley appearance.
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Others, however, turn out quite well from AI generation, with the show overall being given a 1950s sci-fi type feel to it.
Think somewhere between the Bioshock and Fallout video game series and you'll be on the right track.
The AI-generated clip shows the cityscape of Futurama, with imagery reminiscent of that 1950s futurism.
But of course it's when we get to the characters themselves that things start to get a bit weird.
AI-generated pictures of people can often have an uncanny quality to them, as though they're not quite human.
Obviously this depends on which engine is being used, with some being shockingly convincing.
This is certainly the case with the AI-generated images of the well-loved characters.
Main character Phillip J. Fry is shown waking up from his cryo-sleep, while some fans commented that Leela's single eye should be larger.
We also get two interpretations of Bender, naturally clutching a beer in the first of them.
It's Zoidberg who comes out perhaps the strangest-looking of all the characters, with one interpretation looking significantly slimier than the other.
We even got a look at the hypno-toad, though it kind of just looked like a regular road without the hypnosis.
People certainly had a strong reaction to the video, and took to the comments to say so.
One said: "I don't why but all these AI created videos are for me really disturbing, like nightmare visions."
A second posted: "The Simpsons one was cool… this is somehow better."
A third commented: "I really like those from 50’s dystopian distorted future past."
But not everyone was so convinced, with one person saying: "This style of A.I. content started with “Wes Anderson Star Wars” and immediately plateaued."
The interpretation was put together by Twitter user @demonflyingfox, who has done a number of similar videos.
Other series to get the 1950s treatment include The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Southpark, with the last one in particular containing some unusual and disturbing imagery.
As impressive as AI is, it's still no substitute for true creativity.