A baseball writer used AI to generate America’s leaders as cartoon characters during a ‘fun weekend project,’ creating an actual bear for Teddy Roosevelt to an ‘ultra-ripped ginger Ford.’
ESPN contributor Dan Szymborski spent his holiday using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate all 46 US presidents as Pixar characters. His creations vary from an ultra-realistic Lyndon B. Johnson to current President Joe Biden sporting a large forehead and a receding hairline.
‘I’ve been fascinated by these kinds of predictive algorithms for years, whether they be text or images, so I like to mess around with whatever’s available,’ Szymborski told DailyMail.com on Monday. ‘As it was Presidents Day weekend, I simply thought I’d goof around and generate some presidential AI art.
‘It’s kind of slow right now for baseball news and I didn’t really feel like getting any work done,’ he continued. ‘My boss usually prefers I get my articles written rather than goof around with AI all day.’
ESPN contributor Dan Szymborski spent his holiday using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate all 46 US presidents as Pixar characters
He’s also dabbled in having an AI generator create images of the beloved childhood character SpongeBob in Soviet propaganda and baseball players as Shakespeare characters.
‘I mostly create baseball-related things in AI, such as famous baseball players as Shakespeare characters or Soviet propaganda posters simply for personal amusement,’ he told DailyMail.com.
In Szymborski’s presidential creations, former President Donald Trump looked a little windswept, with a stray hair jutting off the right side of his head as he scowled at the imaginary photographer. In other generations, the 45th president appeared to have blue skin, bushy eyebrows, and even piercing blue eyes.
Barack Obama’s generation always showed him ready for his close-up in a regal suit with black glasses. Others showed 44th president with bulging muscles and also in a what appears to be a superhero costume.
His creations vary from a sad-looking George Washington to a top-hatted Abraham Lincoln
Barack Obama’s gave a tight-lipped smile while Donald Trump’s hair seemed a little wind swept. Szymborski told DailyMail.com that he generated the images by typing in ‘as a Pixar character’ and it worked most of the time
Biden’s character had a receding hairline and a large forehead. Szymborksi said he had always ‘been fascinated by these kinds of predictive algorithms for years, whether they be text or images, so I like to mess around with whatever’s available’
Bill Clinton’s images also picked fun at his blinding white hairdo, oftentimes making it larger than life. One of the images gave the 42nd president a defined jaw, while another looked like a painting straight out of a museum.
Gerard Ford’s creations took him on a wild journey, from blonde hair to ginger and from extremely muscular to blue-skinned.
Poor Teddy Roosevelt found the AI generator taking his name too seriously, generating him as an actual teddy bear. Other images of him appeared more closely to his actual appearance with glasses, hats, and ties.
However, Szymborski favorite image of the presidential collection is 30th President Calvin Coolidge, because it appeared he was looking for a fight.
In Szymborski’s presidential creations, former President Donald Trump looked a little windswept, with a stray hair jutting off the right side of his head as he scowled at the imaginary photographer. In other generations, the 45th president appeared to have blue skin, bushy eyebrows, and even piercing blue eyes
Biden was also a victim of having blue skin, as well as, being transformed into a few monsters
Barack Obama’s generation always showed him ready for his close-up in a regal suit with black glasses. Others showed 44th president with bulging muscles and also in a what appears to be a superhero costume
Poor Teddy Roosevelt found the AI generator taking his name too seriously, generating him as an actual teddy bear. Other images of him appeared more closely to his actual appearance with glasses, hats, and ties.
‘I think the Coolidge one [is my favorite] simply because unlike most of the presidents that looked annoyed or weary, it looked like Silent Cal was looking for someone to fight,’ he said. Coolidge gained the nickname ‘Silent Cal’ for his quiet and steadfast nature.
‘I also like James Garfield simply because of the one run that gave him a tiny, jaunty top hat,’ he told DailyMail.com.
However, he believes the generator did its best work on Dwight Eisenhower, but struggled to get George W. Bush to look like a Pixar character.
‘I think Dwight Eisenhower came out the best in terms of realism. Less hair for the AI to get confused by,’ he told DailyMail.com. ‘On the flip side, for some reason, the AI had trouble getting George W. Bush right, so I ended up choosing one that’s closer to a Muppet than Pixar.’
Szymborski favorite image of the presidential collection is 30th President Calvin Coolidge (left), because it appeared he was looking for a fight. However, he believes the generator did its best work on Dwight Eisenhower (pictured)
As for how he helps the AI generator to create these images, he tries to ‘keep the prompts as simple as possible.’
‘For example, on the presidents, “as a Pixar character” was usually all that was needed. I’d occasionally specify things like “age 60” for Grover Cleveland’s second term and “short gray mullet” so that it would get James Polk’s hair relatively accurate,’ he told DailyMail.com.
He used Midjourney v4 – a ‘fairly easy online tool to use’ – to blend a few images to lead the AI down the ‘right path.’ In his other creations, he has used Stable Diffusion, but ‘that’s a bit more work’ to use.
As for how the baseball writer comes up with his ideas: ‘[It’s] mostly things just pop in my head. One of the benefits of being a bit weird.’