AI Caricatures Are Taking Over Social Media
If you’ve seen these online, you might wonder how artificial intelligence could know so much about a person.
People are asking AI, specifically ChatGPT, to create caricatures based on what it knows about them. Jobs, hobbies, personality, even lifestyle details. Some of the results look incredibly personal.
So I tried it.
I Asked ChatGPT to Create a Caricature of Me
I asked ChatGPT to create a caricature based on what it knows about me. I use ChatGPT a lot for work. It knew I’d recently been asking about covering CES in Las Vegas, and I had uploaded a photo from that trip.
The result was fine.
Other than the freakishly small laptop.
But it wasn’t nearly as detailed as what I was seeing from other people online.
Why Some AI Caricatures Look Shockingly Personal
Some of the caricatures shared with me by friends included all of their jobs, their favorite sports teams, their kids, and their hobbies. One even included a caricature of their wife and children.
That’s not AI reading your mind.
That’s AI following directions.
The more information someone has shared over time, the more detailed the result becomes.
What ChatGPT Actually Knows About You
To understand why, I did what any reporter would do. I interviewed ChatGPT.
When I asked what it knew about me, it remembered my job, a reporting trip to Ireland covering a town where kids don’t use smartphones, CES in Las Vegas, and even that I drive a truck because I’d once asked how to repair a broken part.
So I tried again.
This time, I asked for a caricature based on everything it knew about me.
Same AI.
Same person.
A much more detailed caricature.
Why AI Fills in the Blanks
Here’s the key difference.
AI fills in the blanks using patterns. If you leave things out, it plays it safe and stays generic. The more you volunteer, the more personal the results feel.
That’s why two people using the same tool can get wildly different results.
Is It Safe to Try the AI Caricature Trend?
For most people, yes, as long as you treat it like a public conversation.
Avoid sharing private details, exact locations, or anything you wouldn’t post on social media.
You’re teaching AI more about you. And once you create something and share it online, it’s already public.
The caricatures are meant to be fun. Just remember, the more you tell these tools about yourself, the more they have to work with.
