ChatGPT’s viral 1980s photo trend is bringing generations together

ChatGPT has become a key tool behind a viral social media trend that turns modern portraits into 1980s-style photographs. The challenge is spreading across Instagram and TikTok, where users post images with oversized hair, retro clothing and vintage effects.

The process starts with a clear current photograph. Users ask the artificial intelligence system to preserve the person’s exact facial features while changing the surroundings, hairstyle and clothes. The generated portraits imitate studio photographs from the period, with colourful backgrounds, strong lighting and neon effects.

A recommended prompt asks ChatGPT to show how the person would have looked in 1987. It requests a voluminous or permed hairstyle, colourful denim jackets, shoulder pads, neon colours, period makeup and the look of an analogue film photograph taken with an 1980s camera.

The trend has also encouraged interaction between younger and older users. Participants compare the digital creations with physical family albums and add music from the decade, including pop, synth-pop and rock. They then share the results through stories and posts using global hashtags. The article also advises users to review ChatGPT’s security and privacy protections when uploading photographs.

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Take the person in this photo as a reference and generate a new image of how they would look in 1987. Keep their exact facial features, but change their style.