The concept of AI (Artificial Intelligence) is starting to gain more prominence in social media as it becomes more readily available to everyone. AI is already starting to have an impact in areas such as music, films or even football itself – in the form of something like VAR or robot referees being tested.
Now it appears that AI is also being used to create some crazy images. The special thing about the AI image generators like Midjourney, DALL-E or Bing AI is how it gives user the freedom to do just about anything they want with pictures.
AI-generated images seem to be the talk of the town on Football Twitter. Now that AI softwares are quite easily (and freely) available, fans just can’t seem to get enough of it. They’re having a blast editing pictures of famous footballers and managers and reimagining them in different scenarios using AI.
Suddenly, supporters are being able to realize some of their ‘dreams’ through these altered images. One supporter appears to have used AI to create a picture showing Wayne Rooney riding with Rio Ferdinand. While Rio’s face is a bit creepy, the picture is a throwback to an epic Rooney tweet.
— Culture Ultras Football Podcast (@thecultraspod) October 6, 2023
Back in 2011, Rooney was infamous for dropping the most random tweets. On April 11 2011, he dropped a random tweet writing ‘Hi Rio do u want picking up in the morning pal’. Wayne might’ve forgotten that Twitter wasn’t his personal messaging space and his hilarious tweet went viral instantly.
The tweet is still fondly remembered by fans, with one commemorating with a picture of Wayne driving Rio to training.
One fan has even been able to achieve their dream of seeing ex-Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa drinking a pint of Guinness.
The Argentine can be seen drinking a pint of Stout beer like a gangster in the 90s’ movie. This supporter has actually been able to track how far AI has come over the last year or so. Their initial attempt to create this image failed miserably in 2022. Now, it’s almost perfectly real.
Barcelona fans have also been able to realize their dream of seeing Lionel Messi celebrate his World Cup win at Camp Nou thanks to AI. This comes after the Argentine forward voiced his anguish at how PSG treated him after the 2022 World Cup win.
A lot of Barca fans were gutted that Messi couldn’t celebrate with the World Cup trophy at the Camp Nou. But they’ve been able to achieve this dream, at least on social media, thanks to AI. A bunch of generated images shows how it would have looked if Messi was still at Barca and got a grand reception from the Camp Nou faithful.
It even shows him wearing the Barca coat and the captain’s armband.
A Crystal Palace fan was also able to have fun with manager Roy Hodgson’s portrait with an AI image generator.
The supporter has created an image showing the Englishman wearing a durag and a number of black Crystal Palace players behind him. A durag is a cloth tied around the head of a person to protect their hair. This is a cheeky dig at the Palace squad having many Black players and how Hodgson is their ‘leader’.
This image seems to have impressed a lot of fans because of how Roy almost looks like a mob boss in it. Hodgson isn’t the only Premier League manager to be a victim of AI-generated images. Some fans have decided to give Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino a major makeover with the help of AI.
A few images show Pochettino with his hairstyle changed to having dreadlocks. This is a hilarious homage to so many Black players in the Chelsea squad having the same dreadlock style. Pochettino has been added to this ‘group’ with these hilarious pictures.
Football Twitter is clearly having too much fun with these AI image generators. Seeing the infinite possibilities that the generator can create, these AI-created images aren’t stopping anytime soon.
