A.I. has become incredibly advanced incredibly quickly, and different people are taking advantage of that fact for different purposes. There’s the comical, like the images of a man eating pizza with an alligator before kicking him squarely in the face, to the sinister, like the people who flooded Twitter/X with A.I.-generated sexually explicit images of Taylor Swift, causing Elon Musk to block the ability to search for Swift’s name on the platform while the company dealt with the problem.


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On that broad spectrum is one person with a dream: to use A.I. to swap the genders of as many celebrities as possible. Since joining Twitter/X in December 2023, the account Gender Swapped Celebrities has posted 384 images of famous people as different genders, primarily swapping men to women. I recently spoke with the person behind the account to try and learn more about what was behind their unique hobby.


Firstly, which A.I. service do you use?


I use Stable Diffusion.


What’s your goal for the account/what’s the reason behind it?


I’ve always been intrigued by fictional gender transformations depicted in movies, comics, series, cartoons and more. Exploring how individuals might appear with different gender features fascinates me. Furthermore, I deeply appreciate the diversity among my followers, and I take pride in having several who are transgender. Additionally, I find it compelling to explore the capabilities of A.I. and observe people’s reactions to it.



Is there a reason you focus on swapping male celebrities to female? Is the original gender of the celebrity an important factor for you?


Yes, the majority of my posts feature male-to-female transformations. Several factors contribute to this: 1) There’s a larger male-to-female transsexuals in real life; 2) unfortunately, the majority of influential figures globally are men; and 3) from a creative standpoint, I find male-to-female transformations more engaging due to the broader range of elements to experiment with, such as clothing, makeup and hairstyles.



Are you concerned about potential new laws involving using A.I. to generate images of real people in the wake of the recent Taylor Swift A.I. incident?


I understand the concerns. However, it’s important to note that I exclusively generate safe-for-work images. Furthermore, many of the transformations incorporate irony, such as depicting conservative politicians or actors as sensual and provocative women, reminiscent of caricatures seen in newspapers. Nevertheless, I endorse the regulation of A.I.-generated content as a responsible safeguard.


Which has been your favorite swap so far?


I found Tucker Carlson’s transformation to be quite funny and well-executed.



POSTSCRIPT: I also asked Gender Swapped Celebrities what prompts they used to generate their images; they responded that they just write “female X” or “male Y” alongside a description of the outfit. Seeking to replicate their results for myself, I found that I was only able to create similar images if I used Stable Diffusion Web — Stability.AI’s DreamStudio blocks explicit images and search terms — and specified characteristics like low-cut dress or large breasts.


Even then, I struggled to recreate their images, suggesting there is some level of skill in creating images using A.I. and knowing which keywords to use, and also that whoever runs this account is particularly committed to flooding the internet with A.I.-generated images of male celebrities with huge boobs. Godspeed, I guess.