How social media users are using AI vision boards and ‘life trailers’ to manifest their dream lives

Vision boards are now getting the AI treatment.

From Lucky Girl Syndrome to the whisper method, the idea of manifesting your dream life into existence has been trending on social media for some time. Now, with the rise of generative AI tools, people are creating personalized “life trailers” with the help of platforms like Freepik, Runway, and ChatGPT in order to bring those dreams to life in entirely new ways.

For one 24-year-old The New York Times recently interviewed, her digital vision board—created using Freepik—included “flying on a private plane, giving a keynote address to a packed room, and getting a notification on her computer that she reached 100,000 subscribers on YouTube,” the newspaper reported.

Instead of writing down her wishes in a journal or cutting out aspirational images from magazines and Pinterest boards, she was able to place an avatar of herself directly into her ideal future using artificial intelligence technology.

She’s not alone. “I accidentally manifested a trip to Paris with AI,” one TikTok creator claimed, showing AI-generated images of herself in front of the Eiffel Tower, followed by a text from her boyfriend with a booking confirmation. “If you are not using AI to read you a play-by-play of your future, you are using it wrong,” another user posted. “I am literally giddy and kicking my feet right now.”

Some TikTokers have shared prompts they’ve used to clarify the life they want to manifest. Others suggest writing down those visions, turning them into a podcast using ChatGPT or Google AI, and listening to it on repeat throughout the day.

As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, it’s no surprise that people are finding inventive ways to maximize these tools. Earlier this year, a Harvard Business Review study found “organizing my life” and “finding purpose” were the second- and third-most popular uses for generative AI—just behind “therapy/companionship.”

At the same time, with much of the world feeling uncertain, manifestation content has seen a surge. After months of bleak headlines, rising unemployment, and ongoing economic instability, who wouldn’t want to watch a personalized highlight reel of themselves landing their dream job or stepping into the life they’ve always envisioned?

Just don’t get so caught up in replaying your “life trailer” that you forget to actually live it.