The downside of photobooth photos with idols

Photobooth trend with idols. Photo: TikTok .

Recently, social networks, especially TikTok and Threads, have seen many photos of fans taking photos with famous artists, including the cast of the movie Red Rain , actor Hua Quang Han or Korean artists such as Jung Kook, V, from the group BTS. These photos were created by AI with just a simple command, arousing curiosity among young people.

However, on the same platforms, another group is also calling for a halt to the use and submission of personal photos to AI. Concerns about privacy and personal data, amid the spread of fake news and deepfakes.

A combination of many trends

The background of the photos is set in a photobooth, a "room" or pre-designed space, allowing users to take photos themselves, get creative with accessories and print photos immediately. Photobooths were introduced from Korea to Vietnam around 2020, and suddenly became a trend in the youth community in the past 1-2 years.

Catching up with idol culture, some photo booths like Photoism have launched photo frames with pre-printed images of artists like Chung Su Bin and Joo Woo Jae. Users can choose a frame and take a photo on the spot, and can own a photo with their favorite artist.

Each photo shoot costs about 50,000-80,000 VND for 4-6 photos. For photo frames with artists, the price is about 150,000 VND. However, a comment on Threads said that instead of spending money to have moments and support artists, some young people and KOLs use AI to combine photos for free, but with many potential risks to both the artists and themselves.

Instructions for creating photos with others using Gemini. Photo: TikTok/AnhTuna.

According to those who have successfully created the image, they just need to send Google's Gemini AI a command, along with a photo of the owner and the artist they want to combine. Then, they just need to wait a few minutes to get the result.

Many of the tutorials have received over a hundred thousand views. And with the ease of application, users can attach their own versions right below the comment section. Most of the participants are young people, where idol culture as well as the photobooth trend is strongly developed.

Some Vietnamese singers such as Emma Nhat Khanh and Vu Thao My have also joined the wave of "following idols with AI". However, on the Threads platform, many users posted objections, calling for a stop to giving their images to AI.

Potential data risks

Today, when social media is flooded with fake news, low-quality, fictional images and content created by AI are exacerbating the problem. According to the BrightCHAMPS 2025 report conducted on more than 1,400 students in 29 countries, up to 35% of students have believed false information created by AI, 29% have difficulty distinguishing between real and AI-generated photos/ videos .

Under the posts showing off AI photos, in addition to humorous comments, sharing their results, there are also some people wondering about the authenticity, or feeling surprised when knowing that the above photo was created by a chatbot. "Because the time spent on each post on my social network is only 3-5 seconds, sometimes I don't have time to stop, or distinguish which content is created by AI", Binh Minh (22 years old) from Ho Chi Minh City, shared.

Many posts call for stopping giving information to AI. Photo: Threads.

Using real people’s images to serve AI also poses many potential risks of forgery in the future. Mr. Vu Ngoc Son, Technology Director of Vietnam National Cyber Security Technology Joint Stock Company, said that photos taken with phones often come with information such as the time and location of the photo. From there, bad guys can not only create deepfakes, but also grasp the schedule from the information provided.

Previously, social networks had many trends of creating photos and models of oneself in many styles using AI. Viet Khoi, an information technology expert, said that the trend of photo editing is not too new, in essence it is a form of collecting personal data of users.

The trend of taking photos with idols is just a form of entertainment and creativity for young people. But in the era of social networks surrounded by fake news and fictional information, users need to be alert when sharing or storing personal data, especially frontal photos of themselves or acquaintances, or other information such as phone numbers, citizen identification numbers, and residential addresses.

Source: https://znews.vn/mat-trai-cua-anh-photobooth-ghep-cung-than-tuong-post1585180.html