If you’ve been online in the past week, then you’ve probably seen the ChatGPT caricatures trend. We’ve covered a lot of ChatGPT image trends here at Mashable, but nothing that’s gone this viral since the original Studio Ghibli trend.

In the latest viral ChatGPT trend, people are going to Chat with a simple prompt: “Create a caricature of me based on everything you know about me.”

You can vary the prompt to your liking, but that’s the most basic version. In the best-case scenario, you should get a cute and wholesome caricature with a cartoon version of you and some artwork reflecting your hobbies or career.

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Of course, not everyone’s ChatGPT caricature turns out quite the way they hoped. On Reddit and X, we’ve seen some particularly strange results from this simple prompt. In some cases, ChatGPT seems to be calling out the user.

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In some examples, ChatGPT includes some very questionable details. One image of Reddit user crunchy-wraps looks fairly normal at first, until you zoom in…

Left:
Enhance…
Credit: Reddit / crunchy-wraps

Right:
Show you what?
Credit: Reddit / crunchy-wraps

Other users seem to have received a more traditional caricature. Many of the caricatures being shared offer a cute and cartoonish rendering of the user, but some show the more insulting caricature style you might get from a rude and underpaid boardwalk caricature artist.

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On X, some users are using Grok Imagine to generate caricatures, and the results with Grok are especially bad. At least Grok isn’t undressing people without their consent, for once.

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And at least one disgruntled X user has reported that free users of the AI chatbot are getting bad results.

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Head to ChatGPT to try creating your own caricature, or visit X to see some of the latest examples of the trend in action.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 1 minute ago

When it comes to NuTrek, a common refrain from critics (myself included) is that Star Trek no longer feels like it did back in the golden days of shows like Deep Space Nine. However, a recent episode of Starfleet Academy, “Series Acclimation Mil,” proved that we cynics should be careful what we wish for. That’s because it recreated by accident the worst part of Deep Space Nine: combining an important, character-centric A Plot with one of the stupidest B Plots ever written.

First, a little context: back during the Golden Age of Star Trek, the writers generally included two main stories in any given episode. The most important story was designated the A Plot, while the less important story was designated the B Plot. This storytelling structure generally worked because it gave more of the ensemble cast something to do while giving viewers an additional story, one they might very well find more enjoyable than the main plot.

That Face When You See A Mistmatched B Plot

However, this storytelling method falls apart when the A Plot and the B Plot are completely mismatched, resulting in an episode that feels weirdly disjointed. Deep Space Nine had plenty of examples of this: in “Life Support,” the A Plot about Bashir’s attempt to revive one of Bajor’s most important spiritual leaders after his death is paired with a B Plot where Jake has to explain to Nog that he’s scaring the hoes with his constant Ferengi misogyny.

In “A Call To Arms,” the A Plot is the long-awaited invasion of the Dominion. The B Plot is about Rom and Leeta’s cringe-inducing, Casablanca-quoting wedding.

For me, the most mismatched Deep Space Nine episode of all time is “Doctor Bashir, I Presume?,” whose A Plot focuses on the revelation that Dr. Bashir is estranged from his parents because they “fixed” him with genetic engineering at a young age. It’s a powerfully moving episode about family trauma that completely changes our understanding of the main character. Unfortunately, it’s also an episode where the guy who created the Emergency Medical Hologram is desperate to get laid, and he’s set his sights on Leeta, who is written to be almost comically stupid.

Star Trek’s Most Ambitious New A Plot

So, what does all of this have to do with Starfleet Academy? The recent episode “Series Acclimation Mil” had an ambitious A plot about cadet SAM investigating Sisko’s final fate; her research helps her (and viewers) learn more about Sisko’s accomplishments, his personality, and the titanic legacy he left behind. Along the way, we get cameos from big names like Jake Sisko and the latest incarnation of Dax, all while SAM learns more about what it means to be an emissary from her holographic homeworld to the Federation.

Unfortunately (and somewhat inexplicably), it’s paired with a B plot about Chancellor Ake trying to help Commander Nelrec prepare to host a visiting dignitary. To do this, she throws a rehearsal dinner, which is mostly an excuse for everyone but Nelrec to crack bizarre jokes and engage in prop comedy (no, really). The climax to this scene is a fish suddenly deflating, and the three other officers (who have about 1500 years of combined wisdom between them all) start uncontrollably laughing about the fish making prolonged farting noises.

Shaka, When The Rest Of The Episode Is Silly

It’s wildly unfunny and almost distractingly weird, but the bonkers B Plot is of a piece with the rest of the episode. After all, in between hugely important lore drops about Sisko, we’ve got cadets vomiting glitter and the ship’s digital dean making jokes about morning wood. As a viewer who was more or less enjoying all of the Sisko-related fan service, I was a bit shocked that the episode kept dipping into humor that would be more in line with a show like Beavis and Butt-Head.

However, in a bit of almost certainly unintentional irony, “Series Acclimation Mill” managed to honor the worst part of Deep Space Nine, and that’s pairing a powerful A Plot with the stupidest B Plot the writers could come up with. This makes for frustrating storytelling, of course, but this practice was absolutely rampant during the Golden Age of Star Trek. Starfleet Academy has now proven it knows how to do what DS9 did so poorly; with any luck, these newer writers will eventually be able to channel what DS9 did so well, which was to tell great stories without the absolutely embarrassing crutch of d*ck and fart jokes.

As the tech industry goes all-in on artificial intelligence, you might not be surprised to learn that some of the most in-demand U.S. jobs focus on AI engineering, consulting, and researching. 

The spotlight has been on major tech companies like OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, and Google trying to achieve market dominance with the right talent. Still, smaller firms and startups, along with non-tech businesses, need high-quality AI professionals, too. 

The search is also on for skilled individuals who can look beyond the initial adoption of AI and the first wave of integration and product launches. 

“Organizations are increasingly pairing technical AI roles with human-centered, governance, and operational titles,” Christina Mancini, CEO of Black Girls Code, told Mashable. Mancini said the shift reflects a move from organizations simply experimenting with AI to using it deliberately and responsibly.

That trend is evidenced by rapidly growing interest in hiring AI consultants and strategists. That role, along with four other tech titles, recently appeared on LinkedIn’s annual roundup of the 25 fastest-growing roles in the country: 

1. AI engineers

The fastest-growing role in the U.S., according to LinkedIn? AI engineer. 

There are a wide variety of applications for artificial intelligence, from powering robotic systems to developing the complex algorithms that drive generative chatbots. An AI engineer can build models capable of performing tasks, along with the required production infrastructure.

AI engineers should expect to draw on extensive technical knowledge for building AI agents, optimizing large language model output, and neural network training. They should also have comprehensive mathematical and statistical skills, LinkedIn notes. 

Coursera estimates the role’s annual income at $145,080, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data. 

2. AI consultants and strategists

The second-fastest growing position in the U.S. focuses on organizational implementation of AI, according to LinkedIn. Consultants and strategists with key expertise in fields like computer science and artificial intelligence, plus business acumen, may succeed in these roles. Their job, according to LinkedIn, is to help businesses implement AI in ways that make them more efficient and strategic. This can involve project management, long-term planning, and developing ethical and responsible practices. 

Self-employed consultants may charge by the hour (upwards of $300) or by project, according to LinkedIn. While salaries vary, LinkedIn estimates entry-level consultants can earn between $60,000 and $100,000. Those with much more experience may make more than $200,000 a year, according to LinkedIn. 

3. Data annotators 

Building and training a machine learning model often requires data annotators, also known as content analysts. Ranked as the fourth top-growing job by LinkedIn, this role is in high demand as companies rely on data annotators to evaluate metadata or raw data with labels or tags. These annotations provide context for the articles, social media posts, customer reviews, images, and videos used to train AI models, allowing them to communicate more accurately. 

While entry-level data annotators may earn $20 per hour, those with AI expertise or experience handling specialized content, like medical data, can earn $100 to $180 an hour, according to LinkedIn. 

Credit: Ian Moore/Mashable/Getty Images

4. Artificial intelligence and machine learning researchers 

Alongside massive financial investments, private research roles have boomed as institutions expand internal teams dedicated to the progression of generative AI. Tasked with designing and testing new models, algorithms, and future applications of generative AI, these research positions take LinkedIn’s fifth spot among the fastest growing roles in the U.S.

According to Apple, their AI/ML research team studies the technology, publishes their research, and hosts and attends conferences on deep learning. Google currently has more than 1,700 job listings for roles across its research teams, including research engineers and scientists dedicated to AI in security and privacy, advertising, search, and machine learning optimization. 

According to LinkedIn’s findings, the majority of these roles are offered in tech hubs: San Francisco, New York City, and now Boston. The gender divide is fairly stark, too: 74 percent of spots in this field are held by men, with an average of three years of prior experience. And the median salary is in the six figures, with Zip Recruiter putting it at $130,000 per year. 

5. Data center technicians

In 2025, $61 billion went toward the infrastructure of data centers operating around the world, according to a report by S&P Global. Due in part to the energy-intensive demands of generative AI, these data centers are funded by major tech companies and a precarious model of private equity debt, according to the S&P Global report — they are also supported bureaucratically by the federal government. 

Hardware specialists, including technicians tasked with overseeing the new facilities and their server networks, are in demand. These positions require physical and technical skill — they have to install and maintain servers, organize cable patch plans, and constantly monitor the vast network they physically build for people around the world to utilize. According to LinkedIn’s report, most employees in these roles were previously in IT or data center operations and career sites like Glassdoor put their median salaries around $68,000. A majority of roles are based in the Washington, D.C. metro area, Atlanta, and Columbus, Ohio — areas that overlap with growing data center hubs across the U.S.