Artificial Intelligence Digital Artwork

This Artist Reimagined Your Favorite Childhood Characters

Black Creativity Can Be Amplified by Artificial Intelligence

Who was your favorite childhood television or movie character?

Personally, I loved Aquaman. A hero with an entire underwater universe unto himself was a perfect fit for my highly creative, introverted personality.

Sadly, I could only enjoy Aquaman from afar, unlike my white counterparts, I could not truly see myself in my heroes. I could never be enough to have one of those heroes over there.

Thoughts of another kind.

That’s what makes Dez Wilson’s artwork so meaningful.

Birmingham, the Alabama-based artist Dez Wilson, recently went viral on social media because of his reimagined digital art version of Wednesday, the lead character of the new Addams Family-inspired series on Netflix.

But, Wilson didn’t stop with Wednesday. He reimagined a whole series of childhood favorites and he did it using artificial intelligence.

Visit his website to see the full series, including the rest of the Addams Family characters, Dennis the Menace, and more.

“As a career creative who has made a living in the fields of graphic design, photography, film and music, I absolutely understand the ramifications of having a machine possess the ability to generate imagery based off other humans work by using prompts or descriptions. However, the boundaries of artistic expression have almost instantly been lifted and the tool of imagination has been granted for people who previously may not have possessed the skills to manifest their ideas or conceptions through drawing or painting.

For me personally, I know I could recreate any of these images from scratch, so I’m not personally so held to the idea of disregarding AI and considering it a threat to myself or artists abroad.” — Dez Wilson, Creative Director

Ed Fields is an poet, essayist, and strategist. Follow him on LinkedIn, Medium, or Instagram.