Have you ever wondered what someone would look like if they were the opposite gender? It’s a common thought exercise that a lot of people have entertained themselves with before, but said exercise has been limited to the imagination in the past.
Today though, we have artificial intelligence that can depict people as the opposite gender, with varying degrees of success. Here are a few examples of this done with some celebrities you may know!
Reese Witherspoon
Looking at this picture, you have to wonder — is hair really the main thing that separates a man’s face from a woman’s? Because honestly, not much had to be changed here for Reese Witherspoon to make a pretty convincing man. Take away some makeup and jewelry, smack on a beard, and voilà.
Of course, that’s a pretty shallow interpretation of what makes a man or a woman, but you have to keep in mind that this AI isn’t truly that advanced. Still, it did a pretty good job of creating a believable alter ego for Reese here.
Chris Evans
We have to say — this AI strikes us as a little unfair in its perception of men and women. Sure, it had to get rid of Chris Evans’ great facial hair, but that was a given. Still, it seems a little rude that its idea of turning a man into a woman includes getting rid of the wrinkles.
We may only just be starting this list. But, we think it’ll be clear fairly quickly that, at least at first glance, one of the defining traits that set the genders apart is their hair — be it on their head, eyebrows, or face. Apparently, AI thinks so too.
Salma Hayek
For all of the amazing things that AI can do (even if gender-swapping a celebrity probably isn’t that amazing), it pays to remember that it’s not perfect. This means that it can make some pretty funny mistakes that even the densest human probably wouldn’t miss.
For example, this AI clearly had no idea what to do with Salma Hayek’s wardrobe in this genderswap. Is that a hoodie, combined with the necklace? Well, we can’t judge it too harshly — it’s supposed to transform faces, rather than clothes.
Michael B. Jordan
Admittedly, we’re not experts on how this particular AI works and what parameters it has in place when converting a celebrity from one gender to another. But even so, some of its decisions are a little confusing, if you stop to notice them.
Why is Michael B. Jordan’s female counterpart lighter than him? And why is she not allowed to wear a turtleneck while he is? Sure, turtlenecks are usually worn by men, but we’re pretty sure that it’s not a requirement to forego one as a woman.
Sandra Bullock
We’re going to be honest here, and not even in the spirit of meanness — Sandra Bullock’s strong jawline probably didn’t need a whole lot of work for the AI to do a convincing job. Slap on a beard, and give her a snazzy haircut, and she’s quite the handsome dude.
On the other hand, the AI clearly had an issue with the celebrity wardrobe here. After all, it looks like it thought of adding a T-shirt or something, only to forget about it 30% through the process. Oh, well… Sam Bullock rocks the dress pretty well.
Chris Pratt
When an AI is used to change the gender of a celebrity, it can mean a lot of things. However, it seems that a powerful expression remains the same no matter what — not that we’re complaining. This shot of Chris Pratt in both possible forms is very amusing.
Christine Pratt looks like she would be a fun gal to hang out with; one of the boys, if you will. That, or she is just one of those people that makes really funny expressions, just like her twin brother. Either way, the AI did a pretty good job here.
Zendaya
When you have eyes like Zendaya’s, it’s guaranteed that you’re going to be good-looking no matter what gender you are. That’s plain enough to see in this AI’s attempt at creating her male alter ego. Of course, there’s more to good looks than that, but she has those in spades as well.
That said, the AI clearly still has an issue with clothing, though it at least managed to pull off a full shirt this time. That’s a step up from some of the previous entries on this list.
Robert Pattinson
This time, the AI’s decisions are a little less nuanced as to the changes it made. The eyes are bigger, as are the teeth for some reason — and apparently, it has an easier time faking woman’s clothes than it does men’s, though it’s just a lower-cut shirt.
It really makes you think about the actual differences between men and women, even when it comes to more subtle areas. Could any of us look like the opposite gender with such minor changes?
Beyoncé
You’d think that someone like Beyoncé would look good regardless of gender. Admittedly, it’s not like her male alter ego here looks outright bad. But, something about him just seems a little uncanny. We can’t quite place our finger on what it is.
Maybe the left eye? Or perhaps the smile? Male Beyoncé just looks like he’s really uncomfortable with something but doesn’t want to make it awkward, so he’s just smiling to hide his concern. Then again, real-life Bey kind of looks like that too.
Sylvester Stallone
Sometimes, this gender-swapping AI does a pretty good job. Other times, not so much. Maybe it’s dependent on what it has to work with, or perhaps it just doesn’t know how to really change such an iconic, rugged face.
Either way, female Stallone basically looks like himself with a wig. Then again, maybe Stallone just has so much testosterone and masculinity that even as a woman, he’d look like his usual chiseled self.
Julia Roberts
We’re not going to lie — whoever was behind this AI creation probably could have selected a more flattering picture of Julia Roberts. After all, even though her male alter ego looks a little off, that’s probably a result of the source image more than anything else.
Not that we’re trying to call Julia out — everyone makes an unflattering face sometimes. The difference is the fact that we don’t have to stare at our own faces nearly as much as celebs have to.
Brad Pitt
We’ve said it before, but looking at this picture, we really have to say it again — it’s incredible how much of a difference hair makes in one’s looks. Because honestly, this AI conversion is just Brad Pitt with long hair and no stubble.
And yet, despite those minor changes, the result looks pretty believable. If you just had the picture on the right and no other frame of reference, you could easily be convinced that it’s a real person, walking around in the world right now.
George Clooney
We’re starting to notice a pattern when it comes to celebrity portraits that include a toothy grin. Whenever a male is converted to a female by AI, the female form appears to show more teeth. And now, we can’t help but wonder if that’s actually how it is in real life…
Do women tend to show more teeth than men when smiling? Is it because of the shape of our lips? Unfortunately, figuring that out for certain would probably require a whole lot of comparisons between lots of images, and we just don’t have the time for that.
Selena Gomez
Now, we’re not going to say something like “men can’t have soft faces,” because they most certainly can. But, there’s something that just doesn’t feel right about Selena Gomez with a beard. Maybe it’s just the fact that we can see the original right next to it.
Although it might also be the neck — weirdly enough, the AI gave male Selena a thinner neck, even though males are usually thicker in that area than women are. Perhaps that’s part of what makes things look so strange here.
Millie Bobby Brown
Looking at all of these celebrity genderswaps, we have to ask ourselves what AI considers to be traditionally feminine or masculine — because sometimes, the results are just bizarre. For instance, why did we have to get rid of the earrings this time around?
Were they just too effeminate? Of all the things that absolutely had to go, that was one of them? We suppose they were of the more feminine variety, but it still seems a little specific. Well, who can speak for the mind of AI anyway?
Charlize Theron
Alright, this one is definitely a little weird, but we think it’s mostly due to the clothing that wasn’t changed in the slightest. We’re not trying to say that men can’t wear dresses or necklaces if they want to, but the lack of wardrobe change at all between the two images makes it hard to overlook.
Sorry, Charlie — but that look just doesn’t work for you! Maybe someone should upgrade this gender-swapping AI for one that can make clothing alterations as well. That would be really impressive!
Chris Hemsworth
One of the most striking features of Chris Hemsworth’s face (aside from his smoldering handsomeness, of course) is his blue eyes, and we’re glad to see that even an AI can recognize how important it is to keep those windows to the soul.
On a side note, we just realized how many actors named Chris have been a part of the Marvel universe — Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans. There must be something about the name Chris…
Zoe Saldana
When it comes to this AI gender-swap, we can confidently say that the AI did a pretty good job. Heck, it even managed to successfully change the clothes that are featured in the original photo — which we all know it usually has problems with.
Zoe Saldana’s alter ego actually looks like a pretty down-to-earth dude who you might find living in suburbia. He probably likes backyard BBQs and Sunday Night Football. He also giving us major dad energy, but maybe that’s just us.
