I Used TikTok and Snapchat to See My Deceased Parents Again
September 13, 2023
(Slate) – On the 21st anniversary of her death, I used the “Aged” filter on a handful of photos of my mother to see what she would have looked like if she’d had the chance to grow old. It was frighteningly realistic—2016 “Face Swap” feels almost rudimentary compared to what A.I. can do now. It gutted me to see how much my mom looked like her parents, who each lived well into their 80s and 90s. TikTok gave me a glimpse at an alternate reality that, of course, I took screenshots of. I wanted to hold on to those images, and I even thought about whether I’d frame one and keep it next to a photo of my dad—but I decided that that would be way too weird. (Read More)
