Fake Young Scalzis

Artificially de-aged versions of John and Krissy.

A new edition of Photoshop dropped today and one of it’s new feature sets is “neural filters” which can, among other things, make one’s face look younger or older. So for fun I took pictures of me and Krissy from the last month and ran them at the “-25” age setting, which may or may not correspond to minus 25 years.

The result: Well, Krissy certainly recognizably looks like her, and looks not unlike what she looked like when she was younger. I, on the other hand, look like (as my friend Monica put it) the creepy android version of me. I definitely did not look like that when I was in my mid 20s. Also that forehead, oy.

I’ll give the Photoshop age filter a “C” for now; it’s a fun toy, but don’t necessarily expect to apply it to your face and come up with, well, you. I mean, unless you’re Krissy and you don’t age like normal humans, anyway.

Also, I ran the clock the other direction, so here’s me at “+25” age. Apparently at some point in the future I become Bill Murray:

Fake old me.

So I have that going for me, which is nice.

— JS

27 Comments on “Fake Young Scalzis”

  1. Are you *sure* you’re not related to Bill Murray? I mean, if someone just showed me that photo of +25 you they wouldn’t even have to tell me who it was, I would have just said ‘Oh, yeah, Bill Murray.’

  2. I’d say that plugin was blissfully unaware of male pattern hair loss, though in the +25, what’s wrong with a little optimism?

  3. I suppose this mean you are going to have to get funnier from here on out. I have confidence in you Bill.

  4. I’ve dabbled in portraiture, and how peoples faces evolve as they age is a fascinating study. It is not just a matter of getting more wrinkles. There are changes in bone mass, fat distribution, and skin and muscle tone. Health, happiness, and stress are also major influences. And that old canard that people who live together start to look alike—people who know each other share mannerisms, which in turn molds how their faces evolve. Really kind of amazing.

  5. Why has the Photoshop filter de-aged you into an oddly balding Shia LaBeouf?
    Krissy looks great though!

  6. Some teachers at my school, when it is getting near “100 Day,” will use the age filter to make their first graders look 100 years old. Always super cute!

  7. Actually, Photoshop Wayback Machine seems to have turned you into a version of our friend Josh, which is okay, as he is currently a writer just starting to break into the biz. Real you looks like a young Dave Barry. Krissy is, as always, ageless and eternal :D

  8. Hi John – I wonder if Photoshop can +/- eyeglasses, which are missing from your wayback photo, btw…

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