Why AI Action Figures Are Taking Over Your Feed

Another day on the internet, another artificial intelligence (AI) trend filling up social media timelines.

With the whirlwind that was the Studio Ghibli art generator mostly in the rearview, a new, eye-catching trend has emerged: the AI action figure. Users are now creating digital images of themselves as glossy, packaged plastic figures, often accompanied by accessories such as coffee cups, laptops, and other career-related items. The result? Your persona, shrink-wrapped and shelved in a make-believe toy aisle.

According to reports like The Verge, the trend first gained momentum on LinkedIn. Users upload photos and receive digital renderings of themselves designed to look like collectible figures, complete with themed accessories and packaging. These accessories often reflect their careers or hobbies and are paired with labels like “Marketing Maven” or “CEO Barbie.”

While it started in professional circles, the trend has since expanded to platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok to encapsulate themselves. Personal users often design their action figure likeness with everyday items and job titles as accessories, while brands such as Mario Badescu, MAC Cosmetics, Stradivarius, and more have also joined the trend, substituting personal items with their own products to highlight what they offer in a playful, packaged format.

Users can log into ChatGPT or a similar image-generating platform, upload a photo, and input a custom prompt. The more detailed the prompt, the more personalized the image—users can choose background colors, outfits, facial expressions, and signature items to appear alongside their digital figure.

Like many AI trends, this one has sparked a fair share of discussion and concern. According to the BBC, the energy and water consumption required to power AI tools like ChatGPT is considerable. In the report, Professor Gina Neff of Queen Mary University London notes that some data centers use more electricity annually than many individual countries. Reports from Queen’s University Library and Cornell University, cited by Tech Radar, have also highlighted the large amounts of freshwater used to train and operate large language models.

There are also ongoing concerns around copyright. As seen with previous AI trends like Studio Ghibli, some experts question whether the data used to train image-generating models includes copyrighted material without appropriate licensing. The New York Times reported that OpenAI declined to confirm whether it had obtained permission to emulate specific styles, such as those of well-known animation studios. Meanwhile, the Associated Press has contributed to the conversation by highlighting the implications for artists whose work may have informed AI training data. As with any trend, it helps to be curious—not just about how it works, but about what goes on behind the scenes.