---
title: "AI Dreams Up What Your Fave Dead Celebs Would Look Like Today"
description: "Gone but Not Forgotten We've all, at one time or another, wondered what it would be like if our favorite gone-too-soon celebrities were still alive — but one artist put artificial intelligence to work to make that daydream a reality. In an interview with the My Modern Met art blog, Turkish generative artist Alper Yesiltas explained […]"
date: "2022-09-26"
modified: "2022-09-26"
authors:
  - name: "Noor Al-Sibai"
    job_title: "Senior Staff Writer"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-celebrities-aged-up"
categories:
  - "Artificial Intelligence"
tags:
  - "ai art"
  - "artificial intelligence"
  - "celebrities"
  - "the digest"
---

# AI Dreams Up What Your Fave Dead Celebs Would Look Like Today

![We've all wondered what it would be like if our favorite gone-too-soon celebrities were still alive — but one artist has put AI to work to make it happen.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ai-celebrities-aged-up.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Alper Yesiltas / Futurism\</em\>*

## Not Forgotten

We've all wondered what it would be like if our favorite gone-too-soon celebrities were still alive. Now, one artist put artificial intelligence to work to make that daydream a reality.

In an interview with the [*My Modern Met* art blog](<https://mymodernmet.com/alper-yesiltas-as-if-nothing-happened/>), Turkish generative artist Alper Yesiltas explained how powerful current AI art tools can be, in which "anything imaginable can be shown real."

"When I started tinkering with the technology," Yesiltas told the art blog, "I saw what I could do and thought about what would make me the happiest: I wanted to see some of the people I missed again in front of me."

![AI-enhanced portraits of Michael Jackson (L) and Janis Joplin (R) show how they might look if they'd aged. Images via Alper Yesiltas. ](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/alpermichaeljanis.png>)
*AI portraits of Michael Jackson (L) and Janis Joplin (R) show how they might look if they'd aged. Images via Alper Yesiltas.*

## State of the Art

While artist [renderings of aged-up celebrities](<https://www.boredpanda.com/dead-celebrities-look-like-today-alive/>) (and [action stars](<https://www.reddit.com/r/marvelmemes/comments/g4prud/artist_rendering_of_avengers_agedup/>)) have been a thing for a while now, Yesiltas' AI-enhanced depictions of some of our most beloved stars have a much more organic feel even than counterparts to his work from a few years ago.

Though he didn't get into which specific algorithms he used in his interview with *My Modern Met*, it's seems that Yesiltas is at very least familiar with the current generative art models used increasingly by digital artists to create [gorgeous](<https://twitter.com/ai_curio/status/1521326843072241664>) (and [often phantasmagoric](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/neural-network-user-bot>)) masterpieces.

![AI-generated portraits of Jimi Hendrix (left) and Freddy Mercury (right). Images via Alper Yesiltas.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/alperjimifreddy.png>)
*AI-generated portraits of Jimi Hendrix (left) and Freddy Mercury (right). Images via Alper Yesiltas.*

Our morbid fascination with celebrity death has often been known to take us down [some rather gruesome paths](<https://www.cracked.com/article_33155_15-bizarre-details-of-celebrity-deaths.html>) — but using AI to recreate their aged-up likenesses with such sensitivity and artistry feels like a fitting tribute to these beloved figures.

**More AI artistry:** *[James Earl Jones Now Letting Darth Vader be Voiced by AI](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/darth-vader-ai-voice>)*

## Author
At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/noorfromfuturism.bsky.social>)