Over the past few weeks, there’s been a new wave in the world of AI-powered portraiture. Not long ago, it was all about Ghibli-style avatars. Now, it’s AI action figures taking over. And, as usual, social media especially Twitter (well, X) is where the trend is exploding. If your feed looks anything like mine, you’ve probably seen it flooded with all sorts of wild, creative, and sometimes hilarious AI-generated action figure versions of people.
But while most folks scroll through these trends for fun, I can’t help but look at them through an educator’s lens. I always find myself asking: how can this be used in teaching? What educational value can we pull out of it?
As I browsed through post after post of these figures, it struck me that there’s actually a lot here for teachers to work with. These images can be more than just eye candy. They can become entry points for meaningful classroom activities, discussions, and even research assignments.
You might wonder, why even bother following these trends?
Here’s my take: most of them are driven by Gen Z, our students. These are the cultural waters they swim in. If we meet them where they are, if we speak their visual language and remix their online experiences into classroom content, we’re more likely to get their attention and hold it. Plus, we get to show them that AI isn’t just a toy or a gimmick. It’s a tool. And like any tool, it depends on how you use it.
So, in what follows, I’ll share some creative ways you can bring AI action figures into your teaching, along with practical prompts to help you get started.
Tips for Using ChatGPT to Create AI Action Figures
Here are a few important tips to keep in mind before getting started:
1. Avoid Sharing Personal Information: Refrain from including names, school details, or any sensitive information in your prompts. Keep it generic, fun, and safe.
2. Use the Premium Version (ChatGPT Plus): Image generation with the new feature and custom uploads are only available in the paid version. Make sure you’re using ChatGPT Plus to access these features.
3. Craft Thoughtful Prompts: The quality of your action figure depends heavily on how you describe it. Be clear, specific, and include details like outfit, pose, accessories, mood, and background. The more context, the better the output.
4. Ask ChatGPT to Help with Prompt Writing: Not sure how to write a strong prompt? Ask ChatGPT itself. Give it a rough idea and let it refine the language into something the image generator can work with.
5. Upload a Photo (Carefully): You can upload a clear, front-facing photo and ask ChatGPT to generate an action figure version. A sample prompt could be:
“Turn this photo into an action figure in a blister pack. Include accessories that reflect the person’s interests (e.g., camera, book, laptop). Keep the pose confident and friendly.”
6. Respect Copyright and Privacy: Never upload photos of students or anyone else without clear, written permission. It’s best to use your own image or fictional characters.
Now with these tips in mind let’s explore some of the suggestions on how to use AI action figures in your teaching!
1. Digital Storytelling
AI action figures can be a powerful anchor for student storytelling. By generating their own custom characters, students get a visual starting point that helps them imagine personality traits, backgrounds, and motivations. This approach works especially well for students who struggle with open-ended writing prompts. With a character image in front of them, it becomes easier to build a narrative, whether it’s a short story, a personal reflection, or a full-length comic.
You can extend the activity into multimodal storytelling. Students can pair their written work with visual presentations, digital comics, or narrated videos using platforms like Canva, Book Creator, or Google Slides. They can also explore storytelling from different perspectives by writing journal entries from the point of view of their figure or building out character arcs across different episodes or story chapters. The goal is to combine creativity and structure, allowing students to engage deeply while building essential narrative skills.
2. Language Learning
AI-generated action figures offer a fun and visual way to support vocabulary development and language use. Students can describe their figures using target vocabulary, focusing on clothing, physical traits, accessories, and personality. They can also create labeled diagrams, write character profiles, or generate short descriptive paragraphs using newly learned words in context.
In second language classrooms, these figures can help reinforce grammar and sentence structure. For example, students might use prepositions to explain where accessories are placed or practice verb tenses by writing about what their action figure does in a day. The visual nature of the task makes it easier for students to connect words to meaning, especially for those who are more visual or creative learners.
3. Writing Prompts
AI action figures can be excellent story starters. Their unique look, accessories, and imagined backstories can spark all kinds of creative writing. Students can use them to write character-driven narratives, journal entries from the figure’s point of view, or even short scripts or dialogues. The visual cues offer a concrete starting place, especially for students who struggle with abstract prompts.
You can also tailor the prompts to fit different genres. For instance, one student might turn their figure into a superhero in a comic strip, while another might use theirs in a mystery or sci-fi setting. Whether it’s a fantasy world or a realistic scenario, the figures serve as a flexible and engaging entry point into writing.
4. Social Studies
AI action figures can help bring historical content to life. Students can create action figures of historical figures, complete with era-appropriate clothing and symbolic accessories. This gives them a chance to research the person’s life, role, and achievements, and then translate that into visual and written form. It’s a hands-on way to deepen understanding and connect with historical narratives.
You can also use action figures to build timelines. Students create a series of historical characters and place them along a timeline of key events, each accompanied by a short explanation. The visual sequence not only reinforces chronological thinking but also helps students see how individuals and events are connected across time.
Beyond historical figures, students can create action figures of scientists, inventors, or activists tied to specific topics or eras. They can explain the person’s impact through both the design and a written profile. This approach supports cross-curricular learning and invites students to think critically about how we represent people from the past, what we choose to highlight, and why it matters.
5. Cultural Literacy
AI action figures can open up thoughtful conversations about cultural representation and stereotypes. By analyzing or creating figures from different backgrounds, students can reflect on how clothing, objects, and physical features are used to convey identity. This can lead to discussions about what’s accurate, what’s reductive, and how media often flattens complex cultures into surface-level traits.
Students can also explore how AI tools reproduce biases present in training data. For instance, they might notice which cultures are overrepresented or underrepresented, or how certain features are exaggerated or idealized. These insights can form the basis for classroom debates, reflection papers, or even small research projects about representation in digital spaces.
6. Visual Aids
AI action figures can serve as creative visual aids in student projects and presentations. Instead of using generic images from the internet, students can generate their own characters to represent key ideas, historical figures, book characters, or even themselves. These visuals can be embedded in slideshows, posters, or digital portfolios to make their work more personal and engaging.
They can also be used as custom clipart or icons in multimedia projects. For example, a student giving a book report might design an action figure of the protagonist, complete with symbolic accessories, to help explain the character’s role and development. This not only enhances visual appeal but encourages deeper thinking about symbolism and representation.
7. AI Ethics
AI-generated action figures offer a perfect entry point to discuss digital ownership, authorship, and the ethics of AI-generated art. Students can explore questions like: Who owns an image created by AI? What if that image is based on styles or data taken from real artists without permission? These conversations help students think more critically about the tools they’re using and the broader implications of creative AI.
You can also use this trend to introduce topics like copyright, consent, and the difference between human-made and machine-generated work. Comparing AI figures with hand-drawn alternatives, for example, can spark debates about creativity, authenticity, and value. It’s not just about technology, it’s about how we define art, originality, and fairness in a digital age.
8. Classroom Management
AI action figures can be turned into fun and engaging tools for reinforcing classroom expectations and routines. You can create a set of custom figures that represent key values like Respect, Responsibility, or Teamwork—think “Respect Ranger” or “Focus Falcon.” These figures can be displayed in the classroom or added to slides as visual reminders during lessons or transitions.
Students can even get involved by designing their own rule-based action figures, helping them internalize expectations in a creative way. This approach makes classroom norms feel less abstract and more relatable, especially for younger students. It also adds a playful layer to behavior management without relying solely on traditional charts or reward systems.
9. Learning Activities
AI action figures can be woven into group projects to add a creative twist. Students can work in teams to design a set of action figures around a shared theme—like environmental heroes, book characters, or historical allies. Each student contributes a unique figure, and together they build a “team” that reflects their collective learning.
This kind of activity promotes collaboration, decision-making, and creativity all at once. It also gives students ownership over their learning product and encourages them to connect visual design with content knowledge. You can take it further by asking groups to present their figures, explain each one’s role, and reflect on how their team represents the key ideas of the unit.
10. Collaboration and Teamwork
Using AI action figures as part of collaborative activities can help build a sense of community in the classroom. After designing their figures, students can share them with the class and vote on the most creative, accurate, or thoughtful designs. This kind of peer recognition fosters positive interaction and encourages students to take pride in their work.
You can also turn it into a team-based challenge, groups create a lineup of action figures tied to a theme or concept, then present and defend their choices. Whether it’s a mock competition, a class exhibit, or a gallery walk, these collaborative projects make learning more interactive and help students practice communication, negotiation, and teamwork.
Final thoughts
As AI continues to evolve at a rapid pace, we, as teachers and educators, need to stay sharp and adaptive. Keeping up isn’t always easy new tools and trends seem to emerge overnight but it’s worth the effort. These technologies aren’t just shaping the world our students live in, they’re also shaping the way they learn, think, and express themselves.
