I am Owner and CCO of a biggish creative company based in Chicago. My role is to lead our artists, technologists and producers to create highly visible and effective work for our clients. So it’s natural that I would be drawn to experiment with new technologies, especially ones that people are afraid will take all of our jobs.

Most people don’t realize that we already use AI and machine learning in our processes. It has helped streamline so many arduous tasks, like cutting out images or extending the backgrounds of footage. But the emergence of AI technology that allows you to create something from a simple word prompt is super new and exciting.

Right when the technology burst onto the scene, those early adopters jumped into Mid Journey and started turning themselves into superhero’s and wizards. Not me! I enlisted my good friend and collaborator Austin Shaw, who was already a master at wizardifying himself, to work through with me the process of turning my family and me into Skrimps. The image of me to the right is the first image I made where I was excited by the results… And sharing that out on my socials created the onslaught of requests asking “how I made that,” and of course, if I would “do them next”.

The process started with MidJourney — uploading a photo of my subject, then layering in prompts to nudge the AI toward the details that matter. I don't choose the glasses or place them on the face myself; I've learned to ask the AI to consider them just so, which is its own art form. Often I would touch things up in Photoshop. Sometimes I don't.

But here's where things have evolved. At Sarofsky, we've spent the last year building something much bigger: the AiLive™ Production Engine, a proprietary, web-based platform that takes a trained character (like a Skrimp) and lets us produce animated, lip-synced content in minutes. Dozens of variants across markets and seasons. Social replies in hours instead of weeks. Brand mascots that can wake up, put on a winter coat, and respond to a snowstorm warning the same day it happens. It's what happens when you take the giddy experimentation that made the Skrimps and build a real production pipeline around it — one that keeps human creativity and cultural nuance at the center.

The Skrimps were the sandbox. AiLive is what we built.

When I take the time to conjure these Skrimps I literally laugh out loud and share them immediately with whomever is in the room. It is my hope that these bring you all joy and laughter and that you feel compelled to share as well. Some of my favorites, after all, are my fails (aka my scaries).