Talking.Ws

The 1980s AI photo trend has taken over UK feeds, with people using ChatGPT prompts to recreate everything from high-street studio portraits to neon nightclub shots. I've been playing around with a few of the scenarios myself (school photo day made me laugh way too hard) and it's got me wondering how the rest of you feel about it.

Which era-specific scene has given you the most convincing result — studio portrait, seaside holiday snap, or something more niche like the record shop or home computing looks?
A lot of these prompts lean hard on "preserve my facial features" instructions to stop the AI from over-smoothing or reshaping faces. Have you run into that problem, and did adding that line actually fix it?

Drop your before/afters below if you've tried this — curious to see which decade-specific detail (hair, lighting, wallpaper, whatever) made the biggest difference to how convincing it looked. If you want the full list of prompts to try yourself, here's the source:

I think the trend works best when the small details are right. Hair, clothing, lighting and backgrounds can make a huge difference to the overall effect. The facial features are still the hardest part, though, as AI often makes people look overly polished or slightly different.

This trend is so nostalgic! The home computing looks are definitely the most convincing for me those chunky monitors and beige keyboards are spot on. I've definitely noticed the over-smoothing issue, and adding that "preserve facial features" line really helps keep the results looking authentic and natural.