Minnesota State Fair visitors get their own AI-generated ‘butter busts’

For generations, Minnesota State Fair visitors have watched Princess Kay of the Milky Way and her court have their likenesses carved into butter. On Saturday, some fairgoers got the chance to see what they might look like in butter, too, with a little help from artificial intelligence.

The University of Minnesota's Data Science and AI Hub offered visitors the chance to create 3D-printed plastic "butter busts" of themselves as part of an effort to get people talking about AI.

"It was my idea to have butter sculptures," said Hayley Borck, managing director of the university's Data Science and AI Hub. "I thought it was just really silly. It's one of my favorite things to do at the fair."

The process starts with three photos of a participant. Borck said those images are sent to Google's Gemini AI model to generate an image that can then be processed by Meshy AI.

"They create a 3D-printable file with the full profile," Borck said. "And then we send that to the printer."

The result is a small, butter-inspired plastic bust visitors can take home.

But the novelty is also meant to serve a larger purpose.

The Data Science and AI Hub works to bring people together to discuss artificial intelligence, including how the technology is being used, the impact it could have and the questions people should consider as it becomes more common.

"We're just kind of meeting people where they're at with what kind of questions they have," Borck said, adding that conversations can range from in-depth questions about security to how AI can help people and how they want to use the technology.

The butter bust experience was available for one day at the fair, but the AI Hub hopes the conversations it sparked will continue long after the printers stop running.