This Thanksgiving, AI tools aren’t just generating new recipes, shopping lists, or decorative table spreads – they’re creating entire holiday memories.
Digitally altered Thanksgiving portraits circulated widely this week, with many images looking so realistic that viewers had to do double takes before realizing they were fabricated.
Celebrities and Influencers Go Viral With AI Holiday Portraits
What began as an online joke quickly turned into a full-blown trend. RFK Jr. joined in by parodying the now-famous McDonald’s photo featuring himself, Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Elon Musk. This time, the Happy Meals were swapped out for classic Thanksgiving dishes like Brussels sprouts and cranberry sauce. Tech CEO billionaires were also pictured gathering in a college-style living room.
Another viral image placing itself at the center of the conversation featured Sydney Sweeney at a cozy Thanksgiving dinner with conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The image had been circulated after Jones himself posted it on X, with the far-right radio host writing: "Happy Thanksgiving to all of my fellow Americans as we continue to battle for the future of our republic."
Credit: Alex Jones / X.
The surreal pairing (created entirely with AI) spread across X and Instagram, prompting reactions ranging from amused disbelief to genuine confusion due to how natural the scene appeared. In the same spirit, crypto personality Tiffany Fong posted her own AI-generated celebration, carving turkey alongside Jackie Chan.
One of the more convincing collections came from Daniel Newman, CEO of Futurum Research, who shared multiple AI-generated images of himself dining with major tech leaders.
His Thanksgiving table included Mark Zuckerberg, Satya Nadella, Tim Cook, Elon Musk, and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang – who appeared twice in the same photo. Newman captioned the images with a simple reaction: “Seriously… AI is too much.”
New Google Model Raises the Bar for Realistic AI Photos
A major reason these images looked far more believable than earlier memes is the release of a new model. Just a week before Thanksgiving, Google Gemini launched Nano Banana Pro, an upgraded version of its image generator.
Tech users began comparing nearly identical prompts run through the older version of Nano Banana and the new Pro model, Business Insider writes. The difference was immediately noticeable – sharper textures, natural skin tones, realistic lighting, and better facial symmetry.
The timing of Nano Banana Pro’s debut, arriving right as people began posting holiday content, fueled a wave of AI-created portraits.
Many users expressed shock at how effortlessly the tool could merge celebrities, politicians, and influencers into family-style Thanksgiving spreads. Generated images of tech CEOs partying together also made the rounds, contributing to what some online jokingly referred to as “the busiest week in history for AI versions of billionaires.”
Why Spotting AI Photos Is Becoming More Difficult
As families gathered for Thanksgiving meals, many users joked that identifying AI-generated images might soon become a necessary dinner-table skill. With hyper-realistic models improving at a rapid pace and widely available tools producing near-photographic results, it is becoming harder to distinguish authentic moments from manufactured ones.
Experts say that while digital fingerprints, inconsistent lighting, and mismatched limbs have historically exposed AI fakes, those telltale signs are disappearing quickly. This year’s convincing Thanksgiving portraits may be a preview of a future where AI-generated holiday memories look just as real as the ones captured with a phone.