Forums » Smalltalk » This Person Does Not Exist

Hello everyone! I'm rarely on here anymore, but I do jump in and lurk from time to time. I guess this post is to let everyone know that hey, I still exist! And also, a question popped into my head.

Now, I know that some people like using real people images in their RPs to represent their characters, and for various reasons, it might be frowned upon. Aside from copyright infringement or identity stealing issues or concerns, some people just find it flat-out creepy. My question is, what are people's thoughts about using pictures from the website This Person Does Not Exist?

For those who don't know, this website was created by an Uber engineer (the company, not that he's the greatest engineer lol) by the name of Phillip Wang, and it uses a software created by Nvidia called StyleGAN to generate human faces that belong to no human on Earth. To clarify, the pictures are not real in the sense that although it looks exactly like the photo of a human, the image was algorithmically generated and so the human portrayed in it does not actually exist, nor was the picture taken by any existing camera.

The images are supremely convincing, and very rarely do they slide into any weirdness that would denote that they are computer-generated. Given the fact that these images are generated artificially and the humans in them do not actually exist, I'd like to know how people feel about it, or what thoughts they have about these images being used for roleplay.

Thank you for reading this, and for whatever time you provide in crafting an answer. I hope you have a good end to your year, and enjoy whatever celebrations you engage in. Stay safe everybody!

This is a really interesting point to bring up. I did know that such a software existed but I haven't thought about it much. Using it for rp images...that's quite brilliant. I'm someone who is happy to use any kind of image without being weirded out but there is always the point when you do happen to know the model or celebrity from someone's image really well and it's hard to look past that. Using false people...is that the right word? Well, I think it makes things easier overall. I probably wouldn't use it exclusively, but I would like to check it out.

There's also MorphThing and Artbreeder.

So long as the images being fed into the system are okay to use (they tend to have a library of eligible images, so basically it's if it allows uploads where you need to be more cautious/aware of the specific usage terms) and the creators of the program don't don't forbid it, yeah, it's fine. Less weird than using an actual real person's face, and fits into what those systems tend to be meant for.

Definitely strikes me as less weird than using a real person as a "face claim"!

I absolutely love this idea for RP because it's making someone who doesn't exist more tangible in a sense. Creating a character from the ground up, just looking into the eyes of a created image, sounds like a unique and fun challenge. Thank you for sharing this!

I would find such things to be more viable to use if you could choose the sort of images to come up. Like say I was looking for a black hair Caucasian female, I'd likely have little luck on this person doesn't exist because what you get is completely random with no say on your part. I suppose morph thing is a little better, though unless you want to use celebrities, you would likely still have to swipe images off the internet to try and morph something you like.

This is interesting. I remember reading up on this in 2019.
For more reading pleasure on this...

Now for a ‘design-a-person’ user module....

Artbreeder gives more flexibility in control. Still things it could use work on, but it's pretty impressive.

Oh I love this website! It's kind of spooky that it can just... make a face.

In terms of RL FCs, I prefer it, but like signed actors and models and whatnot. Using your best friend IRL's face or just some rando's is weird. But these images are of people who don't even exist, so I say go for it.

How many people has visited this web site?

I was on it for 30 minutes and found nothing I wanted for a character. I also found a few disturbing pictures of some that did not turn out right.

For now I will wait until I can ask for certain criteria that I want for my character. However, it is an interesting idea.

I have been using the Artbreeder site for the last several days and I find it valuable in creating characters. You may choose one from the many already generated, then with the sliders provided change their features, old or young, hair colour, race, gender, etc, or upload one of your own and edited that in the same manner.
Some images may not upload the exact way you desire but it's not a tool to copy people's portraits perfectly, it's a tool to design new portraits, even landscapes, and alien-looking animals. It's free and you don't need to 'face claim' as the person you're designing does not exist.
Zelphyr has provided a link to Artbreeder above if anyone's interested.

i never knew about that website, but one of the pictures did some Scary Movie 2 little hand stuff with a woman with no neck so that was interesting