TikTok’s latest AI selfie trend is a slippery slope

If there's one thing the internet adores, it's an AI trend. From pet portraits to mini me action figurines, it seems social media loves feeding the beast to watch it spit out a few funny pictures, but the latest trend might be a step too far. Concocting realistic selfies of fictional (and sometimes real) couples' hypothetical babies, this new AI trend toes the line between harmless fun and a dystopian creepshow.

For every productive way to use AI properly, there exists an endless void of AI trends that make me question whether the internet can be trusted with the technology. What started as a playful trend has snowballed into all-out eeriness, and I'm not sure how to feel. Take this as a prime example of the phrase 'just because you can, doesn't mean you should.'

I first started noticing this trend on TikTok, where couples would innocently generate a picture of what their future baby could look like. Cute right? Soon I was sucked down a rabbit hole of bizarre images, from fictional couples like Spiderman and Mary Jane to real-life celebs such as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce. Admittedly, it's a little weird, but nothing too nefarious.

I started getting uncomfortable when new pictures started cropping up starring hopeless romances and deceased partners raised from the dead. Titanic's Jack and Rose mingled alongside Ariana Grande and the late Mac Miller, filling me with an uneasy sense that things had gone too far. Whether you see it as morbid curiosity or plain insensitivity, these disturbing creations ruffled feathers and soon critics were claiming the trend had overstepped the line.

AI art will always be a topic of moral contention for me. While I believe there's a space for authentic prompt art to shine (take Niceaunties, for example), copy-paste trends like this remove AI's creative allure. What's left is a soulless churn of parasocial horrors, proving AI art still needs artists to curate it into something worthy of celebrating.