#ai futurism

[fantastic-creatures]

Future Fashion

[claiborneart]

Interview with The Most Famous Face in The World

Todd Smalls is a reporter for the Daily Times; specialising in celebrity news, gossip, and marketing. Article originally posted on 6/16/96; last updated on 6/24/96

When Mr. Arno Dun opened his door to let me into his tiny downtown flat, up on the twelve story and with that last-century 'one-bedroom' antique layout, even I was starstruck.

I've done interviews with everyone from CEOs to world leaders to the faces of A-list actor-musicians, but this was The. Arno. Dun. I, like most of our readers, grew up seeing his face on every box of cereal, snack bar, every ad both at home and on the street.

The face of the The Most Likeable Man, whose likeness had been leased by a a tenth of all companies in existence, lived in an apartment that was not worth the price of one minute of his own face.

The first thing he said to me, he confessed, was that he couldn't afford his own likeness either.

"I kick myself every day for letting that clause stay in the contract," he told me. "I didn't realize at the time, or I thought, or hoped, that they weren't serious about not letting me use my own face for personal use."

The room we were sitting in was nice enough, well-lit, and with family photos on a nearby desktop. While the grown children in the group photos shared close resemblance with Dun, his face was, of course, notably absent.

"I spent half my royalty money buying an old cottage out in the middle of nowhere," Dun said. "but that just made everything worse. People looked at my face, and wouldn't leave me alone. Here, at least," he gestured out the window at the city around us, "there's more people to blend in with, so I don't stand out as much. plus, most people are using ARG or some other, so I can go shopping in peace, most days."

"And," he added, smiling wryly, "at least no one asks for a photo."

Q: what made you decide to sell your likeness?

A: it seemed like a lot of money for very little effort at the time, so of course I said yes immediately.

A: Wish I had a lawyer read the the contract before signing, now, but a part of me thinks if I had asked to change anything they would have just moved on to someone dumb to sign it at that first meeting. Hah! I guess I was that dumb*** (swears have been auto-omitted, courtesy of cleanAirBroadcasting™)

There had been thousands of people who had signed similar contracts, nearly every single one for far less money than he, but it didn't seem the right time to remind him of such info.

Q: but was it a good payout, once you add in royalties?

A: Royalties…..well, some years it was enough that I didn't need to work, or only needed to work part-time, but they expired at the 50-year mark….hah! When I was young I thought 50 years was impossibly far in the future, and that getting old was for other people. Now look at me.

I did.

It was interesting, after seeing over 50 years of pre-aging for various brand and demographic-nicheing needs, how the most famous face in the world had actually ended up looking. More frown lines, and a saggier neck.

Still, a face rated most appealling to Broad Demographic Marketing aged more gracefully than most could ever hope for.

Q: so you've worked other jobs then?

A: oh for sure, sure-- whatever I found, here and there. I used to like working with people, but with my limitations, it's made that rather difficult. Nowadays I work for ******* (company name has been auto-omitted, courtesy of cleanMarketRelavance™), which is hard work, for someone of my age, but what can you do?

Q: How do you feel about the alternate-face clause, over half a century into the contract?

A: I don't mind it most of the time, to be honest. It means I don't show up in the background of stranger's videos as myself, so at least I never go viral that way. But…

at this he paused.

A: I don't like it when I want to be in a photo. with my friends. with my family. I don't like seeing a stranger's face in the middle of them, instead of me.

[The banner image, which under usual contract compliance included an ai-generated random stand-in face, was edited to a pixelated mirage on 6/24/96, at the request of Mr. Dun.]

[0sbrain]

alternatives for ai to design ocs

hero forge

picrew

the fucking sims 4

your local furry artist

bitmoji

shitty photoshoped collage

DeviantArt bases

zepeto

making edits of your favorite character

searching "dress up game" on the app store

learning how to draw

[kurohaai]

Also idk if I need to state this publicly again but hello, Ai is my name and I'm an artist but I draw things with my hands. I'm not artificial intelligence; if anything, I'm organic stupidity.

[nestedneons]

By kenva

[leebrontide]

:sobs in near future scifi author:

[ai-dream]

[dooblebrain]

MY BABY BOY JOSHUA AHHHHHHHH

He is a sweet darling angel baby and he was sent to kill gordon feetman

(Rambles under cut)

I wanna see more little baby joshie content I love the boy, he's perfect he's incredible he explains PERFECTLY why gordon is the way that he is

Blah blah something about gordon being so protective of the science team because he can't help but care about them even though they piss him off 24/7 and hes in the most stressful time of his life, something else about Gordon being unprepared for fatherhood but being blessed (/s) with the Terrible Twos right as he's entering the most important job he'll ever have and finding so much joy in it even through the chaos and

I don't know just parallels I guess insert shrug emoji

[kajaono]

Ha ha ha…. Burn them!

[yurianimemangaworld]

Foreheadpathy = Gal Pals

[mothcpu]

rehash of my SAYER AI construct designs from a couple years back

iamsayer.com

[themultiverseofai]

Take in the view 🚀🌆

[nestedneons]

By kenva

[amisterblah]

[ai-dream]

[lyerra]

thinking about post-conan Shinichi's relationship with the detective boys for my fanfic from an outside perspective is so funny

like Megure be calling like "kudo-kun sorry to wake you so early but come quick there's been a murder" and Shinichi be like "okay I'll wake up the the detective boys" and Megure is like "??? what do you mean"

and Shinichi is like yeah? we were having a sleepover at the professors house

and everyone is wondering why the hell is a 25 yo ass man having sleepovers with a bunch of 15 yo kids and also why they address him so disrespectfully when they think nobody is watching

he gossips with these children as if they were the same age and when people ask them how they became friends he says "oh they're not my friends they're my cousin's" which answers absolutely nothing (it's not like he can say they used to be classmates...)

haibara version under the cut

tbh Haibara would be different because unlike Conan she never really acted like "one of them" and always had that "mature older sister" vibe (in canon adults have taken her for a middle schooler because of that)

so even if she decided to go back to being an adult while maintaining her relationship with the kids (in my fic she's still living at the professors house as Shiho Miyano) their relationship wouldn't change much since they were always more respectful towards her, and there was always some sort of distance in the way she addresses them.

the only thing that changes is that now that's she's legally considered to be an adult she can take them on trips and she does that A LOT. she takes them camping she takes them all around the country and sometimes even on expensive trips abroad they're inseparable. those kids are HER kids

(older, happier shiho with a caring found family at her side my beloved)

(my hc for this fanfic is that while shinichi immediately took the antidote when it was completed, haibara hesitated for a long time but decided to take it in the end because she realized that becoming Shiho Miyano again didn't have to be at the cost of everything she had gained as Ai Haibara)

(meanwhile Shinichi wanted to get his old life back so much that it actually took a lot more time to realize all the good things that Conan had brought into his life and seeing Shiho build her new life on top of what she had experienced as Ai Haibara really helps him come to the realization that Shinichi Kudo and Conan Edogawa don't have to be separate people, at least not to his close friends and family)