A Nigerian AI artist reimagines old age chic
Artifacts created by artificial intelligence (AI) have become a source of controversy, but Nigerian filmmaker and artist Malik Afegwa argues that he can challenge us to create a better real world — and a more elegant one for the elderly.
At first glance, his photos look like they were taken on the edge of a fashion runway, but these models aren’t actually real people.
Instead, the images are the result of the work of Afegbua’s imagination combined with AI software, featuring older-looking models in pretty clothes.
He knew he had created something special after he posted it on social media. Especially after they caught the attention of the Academy Award-winning costume designer behind the Black Panther movies, Ruth Carter. “This is so dope!!” she wrote on Instagram.
The photo series, called Fashion Show For Seniors, has attracted thousands of similar comments.
With over 100,000 likes for the photos on social media, Afegbua’s work is clearly making an impact in the real world. But questions remain about whether computer-generated work poses a threat to human creativity. There are ethical issues as well.
However, the artist takes a thoughtful and subtle approach.
We’re about to start our Zoom interview, as Afegbua was sitting in his home office in Lagos, Nigeria – when his two-year-old son demanded some attention.
“He was born smart and everything he does is very artistic. He really knows how to use cell phones and iPads,” he says proudly.
He’s clearly passing his love of technology and art on to his son, but what made this business school graduate veer off in pursuit of a creative career?
“Someone gave me a camera and that’s where it came from.”
He became a filmmaker and now produces commercials, documentaries, and virtual reality exhibits. He also embraced the emergence of artificial intelligence as a new leading force in art.
Through his series of fashion shows, he saw an opportunity to challenge what he saw as the marginalization of the elderly in society and wanted to challenge perceptions about aging.
“I’ve never seen a senior fashion show, but they exist—why not?”
One obvious objection is the presence of real old people, real stylists, who could have been portrayed in the real world.
But for Afegbua, the aspirational message behind the images is crucial.
He thinks they can make people think: “What if we started doing things this way?”
There has been some backlash against the use of AI in art, which has centered around whether computers can truly replicate human creativity, but Afigboa sees this as an exciting opportunity for artists to evolve.
The AI image software takes keywords (called prompts) that the artist suggests or uses uploaded images, to create an image based on that information.
What Afigbua says he does in his work is teach AI to become more creative and, in turn, make new discoveries.
“AI is learning from us and learning from the World Wide Web. I’m trying to learn from it, too. I’m trying to learn how to talk to it, how to communicate better to get accurate results from it.”
For the modeling photos of the elderly, Afigbua went back and forth with several AI image generators—he uses three different ones for a variety of results—to find the look that best suited his “models”.
“I’m a fashion lover, and always love to experiment. I wanted to mix traditional African Nigerian fashion with something futuristic, something futuristic African.”
Another set of images, which he calls his fantasy series, is also inspired by an idea of the future – though dating the world he created 250,000 years ago.
The Wakanda Army-style galvanized set of images of Black Panther and his new Hollywood girlfriend, Ruth Carter, represents the Ngochola people, an imagined ancient African civilization.
He tells about the people who live in Ngochola.
Afegbua is clearly an unapologetic champion of the use of AI in art, but he recognizes that concerns about its use may be valid.
Recently, there have been complaints that, without acknowledgment, artists’ original work is being used as source material which is then manipulated.
This is not Afegbua’s way, but he knows AI can be used in this way.
“When it comes to AI, there are a lot of ethical issues in terms of stealing other people’s work to create a lot of different things,” he admits. “It is a tool – and every tool can be used unethically.”
There doesn’t seem to be any slowing in demand for AI-generated images, as the #AIfilter hashtag has racked up 1.3 billion views on TikTok, with users uploading selfies in exchange for a new computer-generated image of themselves.
Afegbua is optimistic when it comes to the use of technology in art.
“I don’t think it has an expiration date. I think it will only get better because the algorithms keep getting better. The engines keep getting better.
“I feel it will help shape the storytelling and the intended image of Africa now, because it makes things easier.”
In this context, Afegbua plans to continue developing the Elder series.
He wants to use AI technology to help reimagine what is possible today and in the future.
All images copyright owner Afegbua / SlickCity.