This AI filter makes your car look like it's in a retro video game

As a 90s kid, I love a good blocky low poly retro video game car. The sharper the seams and the crispier the textures, the better. When my friend Caleb introduced me to a TikTok filter that turns any car into a 30-year-old digital version of itself, my interest was immediately piqued. As a connoisseur of the art form, I took matters into my own hands and downloaded TikTok again to see what it could do.

A few things first before we begin. I really don't like TikTok and stopped using it years ago. The algorithm scares me, the interface is confusing, and now that I'm well into my 30s, the app mostly serves as a constant reminder that my sense of humor is out of control. But before this little experiment, I had never tried it make a TikTok.

[Editor’s Note: TikTok stinks! It’s the worst! Please don’t send me angry emails! -CJ]

@thatslow96ek #fyp #ps2nostalgia #jeep #gasstaitonpic #fyp #retro #trending ♬ Gotham Love – Bakground

Now that I have it, I hate the app even more! The editing confused the hell out of me, and every time I added a photo of a car to the timeline to retrofit it, it insisted on adding a terrible yogurt commercial jingle to the mix. I kept deleting the royalty-free Muzak only to find that the app was constantly recording ambient noise from my iPhone's microphone. At that point, I was seconds away from consciously testing the limits of Apple's shatterproof glass until I had the idea of ​​contributing a much better soundtrack – one that I think might appeal to a certain portion of our audience.

Frustrations aside, I've used a filter here called “Retro Game” whose symbol is the face of a man who could be from one Grand Theft Auto: San Andreaswith the word “AI” in the corner, as usual. You select the filter and an image you want to apply it to, wait for the effect to load, and then watch as a line moves horizontally across the screen, revealing a nostalgic masterpiece.

OK – “Masterpiece” obviously lays it on a bit thick. I wouldn't say this filter created anything I liked, although I was intrigued by some of its interpretations. In the following one-minute video (which I happily uploaded to YouTube) you can see what it does to a small number of shots I've taken of randomly selected cars over the last few years. Some of the cars are from the '80s and '90s and, as one would assume, fit the blocky theme well. So it's hardly surprising that a Lancia Delta Integrale has essentially the exact same profile before and after. However, the neural network behind the magic saw fit to replace the Delta's four round sealed-beam headlights with a pair of rectangular headlights.

From there it does a pretty good job of creating a model of a Mk II Ford GT40 that I might have expected to see in an early PS1 racing game; turns my GR Corolla into a Scion that never was; and turns a McLaren Artura into a super sports car in which I safely flew into the air GTA IV.

Yes, Grand Theft Auto comes up a lot here because if I had to compare the filter's output to a specific gaming franchise, nothing else would come close. I mean, the Porsche 993 at the end is a real looker for a retro Pfister Comet. I'm not sure if that says something positive about this AI or something negative about Rockstar's “parodies” of popular enthusiast cars, but either way it all fits together.

Otherwise, the filter makes virtually no difference to the Plymouth Superbird I saw at the Simeone Museum in Philly, nor does it take many liberties with a Ferrari F40. The most surprising result, in my opinion, is what it does to a Shelby Daytona Coupe. The algorithm is arguably even worse at dealing with twisty vintage cars than anything modern, so the priceless GT racer becomes what I can only describe as a front-engined Alpine A310. Honestly, it kind of hits home.

It doesn't appear that this filter was designed just for cars, although I've seen some TikTokers portray it as such. You'll find it has no idea what to make of some of Simeone's motorsport exhibits, and so it basically turns everything behind the “hippie” Porsche 917 LH into the side of a castle. It also likes to make every race car wear a mangled version of the number 2. It's things like this that make generative AI a little worrisome and shitty to me. Now that I've investigated this phenomenon, excuse me as I go back to never using TikTok again.

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