--- title: "The AI That De-Ages Eminem Into Slim Shady Is Astonishingly Bad" description: "As part of his purported comeback, Eminem has chosen to have an AI hologram of him from his \"Slim Shady\" era stage a bogus interview." date: "2024-08-03" modified: "2024-08-03" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/ai-de-aged-eminem-slim-shady" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai music" - "eminem" - "music" - "the digest" --- # The AI That De-Ages Eminem Into Slim Shady Is Astonishingly Bad ![As part of his purported comeback, Eminem has chosen to have an AI hologram of him from his "Slim Shady" era stage a bogus interview.]() *\Image: Complex via YouTube\* ## Please Stand Up As part of his purported comeback, Marshall "Eminem" Mathers used AI-generated imagery of what he looked like during his "Slim Shady" era to stage an interview-cum-intervention with his former self — and it looks, like "[Triumph" the Insult Comic Dog]() might say, like absolute dogshit. "Somewhere in the Detroit multiverse, Slim Shady has escaped his 2002 timeline and popped through a portal to terrorize 2024," *Complex* wrote in its [blog post about the crappy video](), which is part of a cover story package geared towards Eminem's new album, fittingly titled "The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)." In the [video](), the current-day brown-bearded Mathers is seen sitting in a blue velvet-curtained room — a potential [David Lynch]() [send-up]()? — next to an empty chair that, a few seconds in, is filled with a scratchy hologram of his de-aged past self. "Guess who's back," the de-aged AI Shady quips, a shitty simulacrum of the mocking tone on Eminem's 2002 hit "[Without Me]()" that has [made Mathers millions](). https://www.twitter.com/mosthiphop/status/1818362488611913946 ## Testy Exchange After making a needless transphobic joke, the crappily-de-aged Eminem begins to tear into his more aged contemporary self, a heavy-handed play on the rapper's [infamous inner turmoil]() that not only led to his [need to get sober](), but also to his [various personas](), too. "You're not fuckin' Taylor Swift," the AI Shady quipped. "You had one era that mattered: mine." Throughout the bizarre exchange — which, we cannot emphasize enough, was supposed to be taking place between the Eminem of 2024 and the Slim Shady of the early 2000s — the rapper spoke defensively to his younger self, and the pissing contest posturing between the avatar and the actual man was made all the more uncanny by just how bad the AI de-aging job really was. As the YouTube video's summary notes, the AI effects in question were undertaken by a firm called Metaphysic AI — the same company behind the [forthcoming film]() "Here," which [digitally de-ages Tom Hanks and Robin Wright]() in a similarly weird manner. While most responses in the YouTube comments commend the rapper for the AI stunt, one stuck out to us. "Bro got so bored," [the commentator wrote](), "he started beefing \[with\] his alter ego." If that doesn't describe [Em's comeback era](), we don't know what does. **More on AI in music:** [*Major Record Labels Sue Music AI Startups for Copyright Infringement*]() ## 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]()