Have you ever wanted to know what you would have looked like in your yearbook photo in college?
I know it’s a strange question to ask, but apparently this is one of the most popular trends among influencers. Scrolling through Instagram over the past few weeks, I’ve come across these funny representations of people in hypothetical different scenarios of their yearbook in college. A cheerleader, a football player, a fashionista: these and others are all versions you can choose to become.
But how is this possible? With a generative artificial intelligence tool called EPIK, of course. It is nothing new to see people in circumstances created by artificial intelligence – just think of the viral photo of the Pope wearing a Balenciaga coat – but this trend seems to be getting a lot of attention. The EPIK app is one of many mobile apps that combine the generative capacities of artificial intelligence with traditional editing instruments to allow users to manipulate their photos or appearances in a way that has never been done before. A new feature of the app is a tool called an AI Yearbook, which allows users to instantly produce photos from their hypothetical college’s yearbook.
And don’t worry: using this artificial intelligence tool is not complicated at all! The tool is available for both iOS and Android, so after downloading the app, simply select the ‘AI Yearbook’ option. Then, you can upload around ten selfies, making sure they are clear and with good lighting, with no objects in front of your face (extreme close ups or full body photos with poorly lit faces may not produce the desired effects). After selecting the genre, you can choose a payment option; an inapplicable purchase price on the app store indicates that AI yearbook photo packages can cost up to $9.99. At this point you can select ‘Create yearbook images’ and continue editing them with frames or filters and then process all.
So, what do you think about it? Are you curious to try this application? Would you ever pay for this kind of service?
Thank you for this very interesting and relevant blog post! Just like yours, my Instagram is full of these yearbook photos. However, I did not know it was so easy to try this myself, so I really appreciate you writing this post. The trend of using Generative AI to alter images, create art, and combine your own face with AI is currently very popular. The EPIK app’s AI Yearbook tool, enabling users to instantly produce photos from their imagined college yearbook, adds an exciting dimension to this trend.
The simplicity of using the app to transform selfies into creative yearbook-like photos is remarkable. Students in the Netherlands – like myself – have a very different student life than people in the US. We do not get a yearbook like this, and I feel like we are less connected to our educational institution than students in the US, also in terms of things like sports teams.
Thank you for providing a step-by-step description of how the app exactly works! Although the pricing options for AI yearbook photo packages are reasonable, I expect that free versions and copycats will be available very soon. As for trying this application, I am undeniably curious to experience the transformative power of AI in recreating nostalgic yearbook memories. The opportunity to visualize oneself in diverse college personas through AI-generated enhancements seems fun to me. However, paying $9.99 for this does not seem worth it to me, so I will probably wait for the free versions.
I saw a lot of these images on social media! It is really fun to see and maybe I will try it myself. But the price on the other hand… personally I don’t think it is worth it to pay for. But when a lot of influencers hop on this trend, definitely some young girls want to do this as well and potentially pay for it. I will keep an eye on this trend.
Thank you for sharing this article. I’ve recently observed this trend on social media and found myself wondering where everyone gets these AI-generated images. It’s really interesting that, in a situation where numerous platforms offer generative AI photo capabilities, there’s a genuine curiosity and desire among people to experiment with such tools. While it is understandable, I personally remain hesitant to pay for such tools. I believe it’s only a matter of time before open-source tools step up and provide equivalent, if not superior, image generation capabilities. Thank you again for sharing!
Thank you for a fun post! During the past year, I have seen tons of influencers publishing these AI-generated “clones” of themselves on social media, even creating LinkedIn profile pictures of themselves. Seeing the posts, I was curious to try it out for myself, however, my excitement wore down as I saw the prices of generating such creations. I am looking forward to trying out similar, free platforms that likely will emerge in the very near future. At the same time, I am a bit worried about the implications of digital cloning as it definitely holds possibilities on the dark side of AI.