The Indian Express · 9 Sep, 10:48 · Artificial Intelligence briefing

1980s AI photo trend: How to create retro photos using ChatGPT | Step-by-step guide

Recent reporting highlights a resurgence of 1980s aesthetic photography, facilitated by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT.

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The briefing

The story
in brief.

What happened, who it affects, and why it landed on our intelligence desk — in plain English, sixty seconds or less.

Recent reporting highlights a resurgence of 1980s aesthetic photography, facilitated by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The article provides a practical, step-by-step guide for users to generate retro-style images using these platforms. This trend underscores the expanding utility of large language models beyond text generation, demonstrating their growing capability in visual content creation. For professionals, this signals a shift in how historical or stylised media assets are produced, reducing reliance on traditional stock photography or manual editing. It illustrates the rapid integration of AI into creative workflows, offering a low-cost method for achieving specific visual themes that were previously labour-intensive to source or recreate.

Employer demand for AI in Marketing skills — indexed growth since 2019
Indicative index of skill mentions in professional job postings for the field this story moves (2019 = 1)

Your move

What this means
for your career.

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You must adapt to the democratisation of creative tools. The ability to prompt AI for specific visual styles is no longer niche; it is becoming a baseline expectation in content-heavy roles. Skills in prompt engineering and digital asset curation will rise in value, as will the critical eye needed to curate AI output. Professionals in marketing, communications, and design should experiment immediately with these tools to understand their limitations and potential. Do not ignore this shift. Instead, integrate AI-generated visuals into your workflow to enhance speed and creativity. Learn to direct these tools effectively, ensuring brand consistency while leveraging their efficiency. Your next step is to master the art of precise instruction, turning AI from a novelty into a reliable production partner.

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Indicative salary uplift in the fields matched to this story
Indicative ranges from published continuing-education salary studies, by field — each field is a recommended course below

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