Everyone's jumping on the AI doll trend - but what are the concerns?

When scrolling through social media, you may have recently seen friends and family appearing in miniature.

It's part of a new trend where people use generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT and Copilot to re-package themselves - literally - as pocket-sized dolls and action figures.

It has taken off online, with brands and influencers dabbling in creating their mini-me.

But some are urging people to steer clear of the seemingly innocent trend, saying fear of missing out shouldn't override concerns about AI's energy and data use.

It may sound complicated, but the process is simple.

People upload a picture of themselves to a tool like ChatGPT, along with written prompts that explain how they want the final picture to look.

These instructions are really important.

They tell the AI tool everything it is meant to generate, from the items a person wants to appear with to the kind of packaging they should be in - which includes mimicking the box and font of popular toys like Barbie.

Many online will then personalise it further with their name, job and clothing choices.

Though it does not always work, and many have also shared some of the amusing mistakes the tools made, where the action dolls look nothing like them.

Like other generative AI tools, image generators are also prone to making things up, and may make assumptions about how someone should look.

And it's not just regular people using it - the trend has been seized upon by a wealth of brands online including beauty company Mario Badescu and even Royal Mail.

Trends come and go - but by their very nature can make people feel compelled to take part to avoid missing out.

"Generative AI makes it easier and quicker for people to create and jump on trends," says Jasmine Enberg, principal social media analyst at eMarketer.

She says the technology has made it quicker and easier to make online content, which may have the unexpected effect of quickening the pace at which other social media users get annoyed by it.

But she believes AI-driven trends will become a more regular appearance on our feeds "as the tech becomes a more regular part of our digital lives".

People have also highlighted concerns that copyrighted data may have been used to create the technology which generates images without paying for it.

"ChatGPT Barbie represents a triple threat to our privacy, our culture and our planet," says Ms Neff.

"While the personalisation might feel nice, these systems are putting brands and characters into a blender with no responsibility for the slop that emerges."

And Jo Bromilow, director of social and influencer at PR and creative agency MSL UK, asks: "Is a cute, funny result really worth it?"

"If we're going to really use AI properly, we have to set guardrails around how we use it conscientiously," she says.