Putting the Six Living Presidents through the Lensa App

What is Lensa?

Lensa is a photo and video editing app created by Prisma Labs that has been around since 2018. Prisma Labs was previously known for its Prisma app which uses AI that takes your photos and alters them in different artistic styles.

Trending App

While it’s been around for four years, downloads have exploded since late November thanks to the app’s new feature called “magic avatars”. Simply upload 10-20 selfies or photos, pay a small fee and get 50 – 200 avatars in ten minutes. Chances are that you’ve seen an uptick in fancy, artsy photos being posted on your Facebook feed, you can thank Lensa for that.

Quality

The first batch I did were of myself. I’d say that out of the 200 avatars I got, 75% are great. I’m not sure what I would do with them but in times of feeling bad about myself, I could scroll through them and see myself as an astronaut or king or rockstar. A few things I know for sure, I need to work out more and let my beard grow longer.

There are errors. Before you submit, you are asked to accept that not every picture will be usable. The AI seems to struggle with hands for some reason and some pictures are cut off or failed to include my face.

Categories

I haven’t attempted to upload any ‘female’ or ‘other’ photos yet so I’m not sure of the categories listed within those options but for men, you are offered ‘Mystical’, ‘Sci-Fi’, ‘Stylish’, ‘Cyborg’, ‘Anime’, ‘Rock Star’, ‘Superhero’, ‘Adventure’, ‘Astronaut’, and ‘Cosmic’.

How it Works

The AI within Lensa is constantly learning and pulling from actual paintings and styles. Digital and regular artists are not reacting well to the app and fear what this could mean for actual artists in the future.

The Presidents

I decided to upload photos of each of the six remaining living United States Presidents. Why? Why not? I was curious what it would do with six very famous, distinct faces. So without further ado, here are Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter as painted by artificial intelligence through the Lensa app.

Jimmy Carter

It’s possible that his is a face I just don’t remember as well. It seemed like the AI struggled to keep the images looking like President Carter. Also possible is that I uploaded various pictures from different decades.

Bill Clinton

President Clinton’s avatars came out pretty great although it seemed to present him in a very alluring, sultry sort of way. For whatever reason. 🙂

George W. Bush

I was expecting great results from George W. and the A.I. did not disappoint. Muscles, alien soldiers, and a double tie.

Barack Obama

The A.I. seemed to have more of a creative license with President Obama. It provided a wider array of paintings.

Donald Trump

The A.I. had a good time with President Trump. There was a lot of source material to work from.

Joe Biden

Running our current president through the Lensa app gave me the least amount of usable options. It didn’t like that I uploaded a photo with sunglasses but that’s when Biden is at his coolest.The A.I. didn’t get as creative but still gave us some decent results.

Bonus Shots

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