Eminem beefs with his young Slim Shady alter ego in new AI-generated video

In a novel, AI-assisted video released Tuesday, Eminem engages in a 12-minute verbal showdown with his Slim Shady persona — and gets the best of his old alter ego.

“The Face-Off,” produced by the technology company Metaphysic for Complex music magazine, pits modern-day Eminem against a Slim Shady avatar created using archival visual and audio footage, with dyed blond hair, reedy voice and all.

The clip reinforces the theme at the heart of the Detroit rapper’s recent chart-topping album, “The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)”: He has embraced a different artistic approach now, moving beyond the vicious, pill-popping, celebrity-trash-talking character he deployed on record back in the day.

“Life’s been great since you’ve been gone,” he tells his younger persona.

Seated on a curtained stage resembling the cover of Eminem’s 2004 “Encore” album, the sober, 51-year-old Marshall Mathers and AI-generated Slim Shady have it out.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

“I’ve been sent from the past to save our career,” Shady tells him.

“Save my career? My 25-year career where I sold like a billion albums?” Mathers responds. “I think I’m doing pretty (expletive) fine.”

More:Eminem ends Taylor Swift’s No. 1 streak with ‘The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce)’

More:Jelly Roll's superstardom boosted by Eminem's raps, Nickelodeon's 'slime'

The clip’s introduction includes a mock warning: “This video contains scenes of graphic immaturity and brutal depictions of self-deprecation.” Eminem indeed owns up to some of his questionable creative choices of recent years, like the “awfully hot coffee pot” line that began his anti-Donald Trump cypher in 2017. And Slim Shady urges him to get back to the politically incorrect lane he used to occupy.

“Look man, I’ve grown up, bro,” Eminem tells Shady. “My fanbase has grown up. The world’s changed. People are way more sensitive now. Every other week on TikTok, Gen Z discovers you on Monday and cancels me on Tuesday.”

Metaphysic, based in London, also helped create Eminem’s recent “Houdini” music video. Tuesday’s “Face-Off” clip was released by Complex magazine in tandem with its new Eminem interview and cover feature.