Recently I asked ChatGPT to turn a childhood photo of me into a 1990s action figure. The surprising part wasn’t the image itself. It was that the AI chose accessories that accurately reflected my childhood interests without me mentioning them in the prompt. It pulled those details from memory.
Using ChatGPT to turn yourself into an action figure became a very popular, if brief, fad more than a year ago, and like many others, I’d enjoyed seeing what the models could do with a photo of me and some virtual blister packaging. The models have improved immensely since then, and OpenAI has boasted about ChatGPT’s current image creation models in particular.
Here’s what I did: I asked the AI to create a figure based on me at seven, as well as one based on me today at 40, and to include some accessories as well. The project became less about toys and more about memory.
Collector’s edition 1993
The first challenge was creating a childhood version of me. I wanted it to look like a toy from the early 1990s, complete with oversized branding, bright colors, and the kind of packaging that would have looked perfectly at home hanging on a peg in Toys “R” Us. I asked ChatGPT to:
“Create a 1993-style collectible action figure called ‘Eric, Age 7’ based on my childhood photo. Include three accessories that represent my interests at that age that come from our conversational history and package it like a classic toy store action figure.”
The accessories came out better than I had thought they would. A book, a soccer ball, and a Game Boy were all things I enjoyed as a child. The specific choice of a Goosebumps book was notable, too. And the overall result was definitely of the era, down to the exaggerated logos and collector edition badge.
Once the childhood action figure existed, I wanted to see what happened when it left the box. Rather than placing it in some dramatic action scene, I asked ChatGPT to imagine it abandoned in a playroom after a child had finished playing. I told it to:
“Show the Eric Age 7 action figure outside its packaging in a playroom. Arrange the accessories naturally around it as though a child had been playing and just walked away.”
You can see it standing among its accessories and other bits bits of childhood clutter above. I don’t think the toy would be a big seller, but it definitely captures a part of my own life and experience based purely on the collected details ChatGPT has absorbed about my life and interests.
Premium adult edition
Creating the 40-year-old version was a completely different exercise. Childhood is easy to summarize because it tends to revolve around hobbies and possessions. Adulthood is messier. Plus, there are a lot more details from my current life available for ChatGPT to turn into accessories. Nonetheless, I asked ChatGPT to:
“Create a premium action figure of me called ‘Eric, Age 40.’ Use accessories that represent my life today and package it like a luxury designed for adult collectors.”
ChatGPT drew from things it knew about me and included a smartphone, a black-and-gold chihuahua, and a stroller. Together they painted a picture of work, family, and everyday life in a nice, if perhaps bland, suburban way.
The packaging reflected the shift as well, with its black-and-gold branding that looked more at home in a collector’s display cabinet than a toy aisle. And the accessory choices were again dead on.
I again wanted to see the toy leave the packaging and join the playroom, and requested that ChatGPT:
“Show the Eric Age 40 action figure outside its package in a playroom with its accessories nearby. Make it look like a child had been playing with it and then left the room.”
The finished image ended up being my favorite of the four. The figure stood on the carpet with the Chihuahua, stroller, and smartphone arranged around it, looking like it had wandered out of its own packaging.
The accessories of the two toys were very different, and the packaging had evolved, but both figures showcased what ChatGPT thinks matters to me now and what mattered to me then based on our interactions.
What started as a test of ChatGPT’s image generation ended up becoming a test of its memory. The action figure itself is just a novelty. What’s more interesting is that the accessories, the setting, and the small details all came from a version of me that exists only in the AI’s recollection of our conversations. That’s a strange thing to see packaged up in plastic — a toy built not from a photograph, but from memory.
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ESchwartzwrites@gmail.com (Eric Hal Schwartz)
