We all know AI is set to take over the world and destroy all humans, but why not have some fun with it until it does? That was my view when I found a cool photo editing prompt on Facebook. The user said they'd stolen the prompt, but didn't say who from, so if it was you, let us know and we'll credit you. Anyhow, it's doing the rounds online, so here it is:
"Without changing my facial features, but just adding lashes, create a high contrast close portrait of my face focusing on front head, in black and white closeup, 35mm lens, 4K HD quality, giving proud expression, water droplets on my face, black shadow background, only face is visible with my profile looking sharper, adding wet hair, Ratio 4:3."
Whoever wrote the original prompt seems a little confused. What is '4K HD quality'? They're two different things, mate, both video and not stills, the first much higher res than the second. Also, why use a 35mm lens when a 50mm is standard for portraits? A more wide-angle lens isn't necessary.
Never mind - I instructed ChatGPT to follow the prompt anyway, using the cheeky selfie below. The result was amazingly striking, turning my dozy still-in-bed snap into a portrait worthy of an album cover. I've never actually tried to create water droplets in Photoshop before, but why watch a ten-minute YouTube tutorial and painstakingly try to recreate it when you can just ask AI to work its magic?
OK, so I didn't love the fact that it made my skin look like an old leather handbag and made my eyes bloodshot, but that's vanity for you. The app asked me if I wanted to edit the photo in any way, so I hit edit. I didn't think the generated image looked much like me, so I used a different selfie and asked it to "Make the facial features in the image above look more like the features in the photo attached."
ChatGPT replied, in disarmingly complimentary fashion: "To make the facial features in the second image (with the lighter background) look more like the features in the first close-up image you previously uploaded, I’ll adjust the following while preserving your natural beauty:
Add long lashes
Enhance the contrast and definition of facial features (especially eyes, lips, and brows)
Adjust lighting and shadow for high-definition sharpness
Keep your expression soft but proud
Ensure facial structure remains unchangedI’ll now create the modified version for you. Please hold on."
"Preserving your natural beauty"? Oh, LLM, you big flatterer! My boyfriend quipped, "Do I now have to beat up ChatGPT?"
As per the new selfie, the app generated a photo straight-on this time, which didn't look quite as appealing. My newly leathery skin and bloodshot eyes were still there, but perhaps that's what the AI thought signified a very high-res photo?
For my final trick, because I was running out of my daily image generation request quota, I used the first selfie again and altered the prompt, hoping for an amusingly satanic pop-star-like photo:
This was the worst of the lot. I looked about 20 years older and in need of some serious Botox, though I guess I could have asked ChatGPT to fix this, or fixed it myself in FaceApp/Facetune. But going back to the image: the devil horns were impressively textured and realistic, but the left was noticeably smaller than the right. Still, I don't even want to imagine how long it would take to create believable horns myself in Photoshop.
ChatGPT has only been able to generate images since 25 March 2025, which is barely three months, so there's still a lot of trial-and-error involved. But if you're a portrait photographer like me, and a client asks for something impossibly time-consuming, why not ask the app to help? And even if you're not a pro, you can use the original prompt for astounding images. It's also fun to let your imagination run riot and create different prompts for yourself or friends. You might just be amazed by the results.
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