A wave of nostalgia is taking over social media as people use artificial intelligence to imagine themselves in the 1980s. The popular photo-editing trend going viral has seen users turn ordinary selfies into retro portraits that look as though they were pulled straight from an old family album or Bollywood studio shoot. The trend, often referred to as the ChatGPT 80s photo trend, has now moved beyond influencers and celebrities. Indian politicians have also joined in, sharing AI-generated images that recreate the fashion, hairstyles and photography styles associated with the decade.
Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal was among the political figures to embrace the trend. Sharing an AI-generated image, Goyal captioned it, “Vibing to the 80s trend. Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju also jumped on the trend, sharing his own retro-inspired image on X. His picture shows him in sunglasses, a blazer and an open shirt, posing beside a car. Rijiju accompanied the image with a tongue-in-cheek caption about the sudden return of 1980s nostalgia. “Why is everyone going back to the 80s vibes? I’m also forced to 80s nostalgia,” he wrote. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma joined the viral trend too, sharing an AI-generated throwback image. He wrote, “Getting to any trend which has nostalgia attached to it. Back to the 80s eh!. Prompts can instruct the AI to retain a person’s recognisable facial features while changing their clothes, hairstyle, accessories, pose, surroundings and lighting. The resulting image can be styled as an old family photograph, Bollywood publicity still, magazine portrait, wedding picture or classic studio photograph.
