A viral AI trend has become the internet’s new obsession because it can transport you from 2026 right back to the 1980s. People can upload individual or group pictures and ask ChatGPT to re-imagine it. The viral 80s AI trend is addictive for its transformative feature, where children, spouses and families are all being given retro avatars. However, this poses a larger question as to the impact of such trends on body perceptions and acceptance.
The viral 80s AI trend highlights a key problem that technology is now imposing on societal expectations. Youth are often extremely impressionable, and with the AI wave, many are swapping natural looks for filters, slimming tools and other technological tools that portray them in their desired form online. The obsession with such trends, which are aggressively marketed by platforms like Instagram and Snapchat, can also create a disconnect with the present by trapping young people in an illusion of future and past.
Body Image Challenges
An AIIMS-ICMR study also found that body image anxiety is emerging as a new mental health issue for young Indians. It showed that distress differed according to body weight. Youth who were heavier were highly conscious with low self-confidence, while anxiety, loneliness and embarrassment were shown among underweight youth.
This is important because while we think of body shaming, it is often associated with obesity, but individuals who fall below the desired weight category and image also experience high levels of mental health struggles. The study found that in India, public health response often acknowledges obesity but ignores problems faced by underweight people. AI and social media trends often give people a chance to virtually reinvent themselves, which can trigger further isolation and unhappiness about their natural appearance.
Negative Impact of Technology
It is impossible to ignore filters online, especially for people who spend a lot of time on social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. There are a variety of filters besides external editing apps that allow one to alter their weight, contour their face and virtually create an avatar of themselves that they feel impossible to embrace in the physical world.
Younger generations also increasingly use filters that even out skin tone, sharpen facial features, and whiten teeth, sometimes to an obsessive extent. This also creates a dependency on makeup and surgery, which is increasingly growing among Gen Z. The virtual world is outdoing physical reality and pushing young people to adopt unrealistic and often unnatural standards of beauty. This disconnect can lead to serious issues like Body Dysmorphic Disorder, according to Psychology Today.
AI And Climate Change in India
India’s AI boom is placing it extremely high in the growing market, but the impacts of this booming industry have tragic consequences for the environment. India reportedly contributes to 20% of global data, but its capacity for AI data centres is relatively low. The country is now working to bridge this gap at the cost of natural resources.
The data centres will reportedly consume around 150 billion litres of water annually, according to Down To Earth. Water is both a sacred and extremely important resource that the body relies upon heavily. The same trends that enhance virtual beauty standards are robbing us of the primary element that maintains our natural abilities. Reliance on such trends only drives us to the brink of environmental shortage and spells disaster for animals, trees and humans from underprivileged backgrounds.
Conclusion
There is more than meets the eye is an old saying which seems true today in a world that uses filters to see. AI trends are heavily distorting our natural senses and altering brain chemicals that change our natural ability to perceive ourselves. AI trends seem lighthearted but come at a high cost, mentally and environmentally. While governments and stakeholders have to assess the cost that they are willing to pay to develop the country, the onus falls on us to check whether we want to encourage AI’s control over our lives. The younger generation, especially Gen Z, Gen Alpha and others, are heavily reliant on technology to survive. Indian society must ask itself what price it is willing to pay and whether it can afford to neglect mental health in its pursuit of becoming a developed country.
References +
- https://www.downtoearth.org.in/science-technology/thirsty-data-centres-thin-regulation-who-is-watching-indias-water
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-clarity/202303/can-beauty-filters-damage-your-self-esteem
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/want-a-1980s-photo-of-yourself-try-these-easy-chatgpt-prompts-for-instagrams-latest-ai-trend/amp_articleshow/133956909.cms
- https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/body-image-distress-now-big-mental-health-issue-finds-aiims-icmr-study/articleshow/126345872.cms
