If you enjoy using artificial intelligence programs like DALL-E, Craiyon, or Midjourney to generate images but want more Pokémon in your life, I’ve got good news for you. Text to Pokémon is a new artificial intelligence program trained to turn any text prompt into a Pokémon character. The developer, Justin Pinkney, shared it for free so you can get started in just a few steps. Now there’s Hello Kitty, Totoro, and Peppa Pig Pokémon! But it doesn’t have to be an animated character. Other examples from Pinkney include politicians and even Poké-art like Girl With a Pearl Earring.
Pinkney shares some user-generated Pokémon on his Twitter feed and in a blog post. These include concepts like “the city of Chicago” and “Lunchables.” Understandably, the results are sometimes confusing. Try the Text to Pokémon generator out for yourself. You’ll need a GitHub login but then the possibilities are endless.
Pinkney is also the co-creator of Toonify, a program that turns photos of people into cartoons in multiple different styles. Clearly, eye-catching uses of artificial intelligence are a specialty. He shares some of the behind the scenes process that went in to training the AI, including dozens of images showing how the model learns and fine tunes itself when given a prompt. Yoda turning into a Pokémon and then back into the Yoda we know and love is an especially interesting transition.
Whether you’re a Pokémon Master or just love text prompt AI generators, there’s something fascinating about letting artificial intelligence create new characters. While we don’t expect to see any of these in the trading card game anytime soon, it opens up a whole new world of crossover potential.
Melissa is Nerdist’s science & technology staff writer. She also moderates “science of” panels at conventions and co-hosts Star Warsologies, a podcast about science and Star Wars. Follow her on Twitter @melissatruth.
