Pollo AI

Alright, let’s talk about this viral AI photo trend. Your social media feed is probably blowing up with friends posting these ridiculously authentic-looking 90s yearbook photos, and you’re wondering, “How are they doing that?!”

You might have heard people calling it “Pollo AI” or something similar. I was just as curious, so I decided to jump in, spend my own money, and figure it all out. I tested the exact app everyone is using to see if it’s worth the hype.

Here’s the quick-and-dirty breakdown if you’re in a hurry:

• The App You Actually Need: The trend is powered by the EPIK – AI Photo Editor app. “Pollo AI” is most likely a nickname or a misremembered name for the app’s viral “AI Yearbook” feature.
• What It Costs: It’s not free. I paid $5.99 for the Standard delivery, which promises your photos within 24 hours. There’s also an Express option for a few bucks more.
• My #1 Tip for Good Results: The AI is only as good as the photos you give it. Use at least 10 recent, clear photos of your face from different angles. No sunglasses, no group shots, and no weird shadows. The more variety you provide, the better.
• The Verdict: It’s a blast and the good results are genuinely impressive. But you will get some bizarre and hilarious fails in the mix, which honestly, is half the fun.

So, What Is This “Pollo AI” Trend Anyway?

First things first, “Pollo AI” isn’t an actual app. After digging around, I realized it’s the name people are using to describe the “AI Yearbook” feature inside a popular photo editing app called EPIK.

The feature takes your normal selfies and uses AI to transform them into a full set of 90s-themed high school yearbook photos. We’re talking letterman jackets, feathered hair, dreamy-hazy backgrounds—the whole nine yards.

When it works, it really works. The AI creates dozens of images of you in different styles, and some of them are shockingly convincing.

Step-by-Step: How I Made My AI Yearbook Photos

I documented my entire process, from download to the final reveal. Here’s exactly how you can do it too.

Step 1: Get the EPIK App and Find the Feature

This part is simple. Just head to the App Store or Google Play Store and download EPIK – AI Photo Editor.

When you open the app, you can’t miss it. They are promoting the “AI Yearbook” feature right on the home screen. It was front and center for me.

Step 2: Upload Your Photos (This Is the Most Important Part)

Once you tap into the feature, the app will ask you to upload between 8 and 12 photos of yourself. Do not rush this step. The quality of your results depends entirely on the quality of your input photos.

Here are the rules I followed that gave me the best results:

• Use 10-12 photos if you can. More data for the AI is always better.
• Variety is key. I used photos with different facial expressions (smiling, neutral), different angles (straight on, three-quarter view), and slightly different lighting.
• Just your face. Make sure you’re the only one in the picture. No friends, no pets.
• No obstructions. I made sure to pick photos with no sunglasses, no hats, and no hands blocking my face.

Here are the exact photos I uploaded for my test. As you can see, they’re nothing special—just a bunch of normal selfies from my camera roll.

Step 3: Pay Up and Wait

This is the part where you find out it’s not free. The app offered me two options:

• Standard: Get results within 24 hours. This cost me $5.99.
• Express: Get results within 2 hours. This was priced at $9.99.

Being the patient (and cheap) friend, I went with the Standard option. The app gives you a scary “24 hour” wait time, but I got a notification that my photos were ready in just under 2 hours. So you might get them much faster!

The Moment of Truth: My Real AI Yearbook Results

Okay, this is what you came for. After the two-hour wait, I got a notification and rushed to see the results. The app generates 60 different images for you. I sorted mine into three simple categories.

The Winners

I was genuinely blown away by some of these. About 10-15 of the 60 photos were fantastic. They looked like me, captured the 90s vibe perfectly, and were totally usable as a fun new profile picture. The AI nailed the hairstyles and clothing aesthetics.

The Almosts (So Close, Yet So AI)

Then you have the next batch. These are the photos that look great at first glance, but then you spot something… weird. The AI has a notorious problem with hands and small details. In one of my best shots, the AI gave me a strange, six-fingered hand resting on my shoulder. In another, my eyes were just slightly crooked. They were close, but no cigar.

The Hilarious Fails

And finally, my favorite category. At least a third of the photos were complete disasters in the most entertaining way possible. I’m talking about distorted faces, mismatched body parts, and images where the AI clearly just gave up and created a completely different person. This isn’t a bug; it’s a feature. Be prepared to laugh.

A Quick Word on Privacy: Is It Safe?

This is a fair question. You’re uploading 12 photos of your face to an app. I took a look at EPIK’s privacy policy to see what they do with your data.

In short, your photos are uploaded to their servers to be processed by the AI. According to their policy (as of my test), they state that the original photos you upload are deleted from their servers after the AI profile is created. The AI-generated images themselves may be stored for up to three years.

My take? I used recent photos of myself that I wouldn’t mind being public anyway. I would strongly advise against uploading any private or sensitive images you wouldn’t want out there. It’s a good rule of thumb for any AI photo app, not just this one. For more info, you can usually find good reporting on this from outlets like The Verge who often cover app privacy trends.

So, Is the AI Yearbook Trend Worth It?

The bottom line: Yes, absolutely… if you think of it as entertainment.

For less than the price of a movie ticket, the EPIK AI Yearbook feature is a fantastic and fun way to spend an afternoon. It’s not a tool for creating professional headshots. It’s a novelty machine, and it delivers a great mix of surprisingly cool results and laugh-out-loud fails.

If you have a few bucks to spare and want to join in on the fun (and get a killer new profile pic), I say go for it. Just be smart about the photos you choose to upload.

Now I want to hear from you. Have you tried the AI Yearbook trend? Share your experience or any questions you have in the comments below!