![\"Young](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_311873884-6cb7.jpg\")
\n\t\tHave you taken part in the nostalgic trend? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tHave you taken part in the nostalgic trend? (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Spandex leggings, shoulder pads, acid-wash jeans, perms and mullets were all the rage in the 80s.<\/p>\n
But, recently that nostalgic look has flooded our Instagram<\/a> and X feeds, as the latest AI trend<\/a> takes off.<\/p>\n Social media<\/a> users are feeding their pictures into ChatGPT<\/a>, asking it to transform them into imagined throwback photos, complete with the big hair, neon clothes and roller rink backdrops.<\/p>\n All you have to do is attach a photo of yourself and tell the AI bot what to keep and what to change. So, you might ask it to keep your recognisable face, skin tone, age and hair colour, but ask it to imagine you in 1985.<\/p>\n You can ask it to put you in front of a motel or the Golden Gate Bridge, give you an 80s hairstyle and finish the picture with a subtle grain to make it look older.<\/p>\n The trend taps into the wider desire for nostalgia-driven social media trends, after searches for \u20182016\u2019 surged by 452% in the first week of this year, with users longing for what some described as the peak of digital culture; 2016 was all about Snapchat filters, Kylie Lip Kits, the mannequin challenge, and\u00a0Pokemon<\/a>\u00a0Go.\u00a0<\/p>\n I opened ChatGPT and saw the trending 80\u2019s prompt. <\/p>\n \u201cUsing my uploaded photo, show me what I would have looked like around 1985. Preserve my identity, facial features, skin tone, age, and recognizable appearance. Reimagine my hair, clothing, accessories, and surroundings with\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/LyIKbKsczF<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 The hair plug \ud83c\udde8\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddec (@Msmenalicious) September 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n But while the 80s social media post is the latest dose of nostalgia to grace our feeds, hopping on the AI trend isn\u2019t as harmless as it seems.<\/p>\n James Vincent, CEO of The Digital Resistance, a company aiming to protect the vulnerable from AI threats, tells Metro that while you think one simple photo can\u2019t cause a problem, you\u2019d be wrong.<\/p>\n Yes, you\u2019re killing the planet<\/p>\n \u2018One person making one image isn\u2019t the problem,\u2019 James tells Metro. \u2018It\u2019s when millions of people join a trend and generate image after image until they get the perfect one. That quickly adds up.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tAsk Metro<\/p>\n Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about \u2013 powered by Metro and trusted publications.<\/p>\n \u2018The strange thing about AI images is that something incredibly resource intensive can feel completely effortless.\u00a0You press a button, wait a few seconds and suddenly you\u2019re an action figure or standing next to your younger self.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018What you don\u2019t see are\u00a0the data centres, computer chips, electricity and cooling systems working behind the scenes.\u2019<\/p>\n James explains that AI uses powerful computer chips which perform huge numbers of calculations and generate heat. It\u2019s like when your laptop gets hot after using it for too many tasks or for too long, except on a much larger scale.<\/p>\n \u2018Imagine buildings filled with thousands of powerful processors working around the clock,\u2019 he adds. \u2018That heat has to go somewhere. Data centres need cooling systems and some of those use significant amounts of water.<\/p>\n \u2018So, that fun image on your phone does have a very real physical footprint somewhere.\u2019<\/p>\n The United Nations University reports that the electricity-associated water footprint is\u00a0about two tablespoons for each AI image made.<\/p>\n The AI safety expert adds that, even back in 2023, an estimated 34 million AI images were already being generated every single day.\u00a0And, with AI image generation growing enormously since then, it gives you some idea of the scale we\u2019re dealing with.<\/p>\n AI platform Imagera claims that 80 million AI images are generated per day in 2026, while 150 million people use image generators monthly.<\/p>\n So, it\u2019s not difficult to see how AI could put a strain on water sources.<\/p>\n You\u2019re handing your image to a tool we know little about<\/p>\n This is where things get even more worrying.<\/p>\n \u2018This is probably what concerns me most from a Digital Resistance point of view,\u2019 James says.\u00a0\u2018We\u2019re becoming incredibly comfortable handing high quality photographs of our faces, children and families to AI tools we sometimes know very little about.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018At the same time, we\u2019re entering a world where convincing fake photographs of real people can be created in seconds.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018That has implications for scams, impersonation, deepfakes and misinformation.\u2019<\/p>\n It also makes it increasingly difficult to tell what is real and authentic and what isn\u2019t.<\/p>\n What to ask yourself before doing this trend<\/p>\n Ultimately, James says that uploading a photograph doesn\u2019t automatically mean your face is permanently stored or will appear in somebody else\u2019s images. <\/p>\n But, you should be mindful that you\u2019re handing that photograph to another company.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2018How long they keep it and what they can do with it depends on their privacy policy, terms and your settings,\u2019 he explains. <\/p>\n \u2018Before uploading a photograph, particularly one of a child, ask who owns the tool, where the image is going, how long it will be kept and whether you can delete it afterwards.<\/p>\n \u2018We\u2019ve spent years telling people to protect their personal information online, yet an AI trend can convince us to hand over one of the most personal things we\u00a0have, our own face,\u00a0in seconds.\u2019<\/p>\n Do you have a story you\u2019d like to share? Get in touch by emailing MetroLifestyleTeam@metro.co.uk<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow \t\t\tComments \t\t\t\tAdd as preferred source
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