Did Ai kill the cool girl?
Let’s talk trends for a second. What are the ins and outs of 2025? What’s actually cool these days?
Or maybe the better question is—how do we even define cool anymore?
Is it something we collectively agree on, or is it deeply personal?
When I think of a cool girl (or a cool guy), I picture someone who pushes boundaries—especially in style and art. Someone bold enough to make moves that aren’t dictated by what’s trending, someone who’s not afraid to stand out or be misunderstood.
So… is being cool about following trends, or about creating your own?
Did AI kill the cool girl?
In my (big and slightly irrelevant) opinion, I think our definition of “cool” now falls into two camps: those who chase the aesthetic, and those who are the aesthetic.
Right now, the “cool girl” aesthetic is everywhere—trendy, packaged, and algorithm-approved. But when I scroll through Pinterest or TikTok, I can’t help but feel like the version of “cool” being sold to us is missing something. It’s curated, not created.
And that’s what leads me to believe that being a cool girl is actually more achievable than ever.
I’ve spent years trying to live up to my own idea of what a cool girl lifestyle looks like—and finally, I think I’m starting to. I’ve been pushing my own style boundaries, especially as I travel more and see how different cultures interpret fashion and self-expression. I’ve been exploring new creative outlets, using my mind instead of relying on AI or endless Pinterest boards for inspiration.
Maybe that’s the new definition of cool—creating from within, not consuming from a feed.
Lately, I’ve noticed new trends and desires emerging, especially among people in their 20s and 30s. A lot of us crave one-of-a-kind pieces, niche aesthetics, and individuality. That actually gives me hope—it’s proof that society hasn’t completely lost its sparkle yet.
But what worries me is the future. While there’s this growing micro-culture of people seeking originality, mainstream culture still leans toward trends that are curated for us, not by us. Even in art and design schools, students are being encouraged to use AI in their projects—and those AI-generated pieces are often accepted in portfolios.
So, if everything is being curated for us, what will we curate?
As someone who loves art in all its forms—music, visual mediums, textiles—it hurts to see an industry slowly losing its heartbeat. Art isn’t disappearing, but the excitement of new creation feels like it’s fading. For people like me, who spend hours shaping something from their own imagination, it’s disheartening to see how quickly AI can replicate what we work so hard to express.
There’s something quietly heartbreaking about watching originality fade. It’s not that people don’t want to be creative anymore—it’s that the world rewards replication more than imagination. You post something raw, something imperfect, and it barely makes a ripple. But post a perfectly on-trend image? It gets shared a hundred times. It makes you wonder: are we actually inspired, or just conditioned?
But don’t get me wrong—I’m not slamming AI altogether. I use it every day for efficiency: quick answers, streamlined searches, small tasks. It’s a tool, and a helpful one. But for me, creativity comes from the right brain—from thought, feeling, imperfection—not from a perfectly generated image or phrase.
Maybe being “cool” was never about being first, or flawless, or even original—it was about being real. About showing up as yourself, unfiltered and unmanufactured, in a world that profits from sameness. The truth is, AI didn’t kill the cool girl; it just challenged her to evolve. She still exists—she’s just the one using her own brain, her own taste, her own intuition to make something worth noticing. And maybe that’s the real rebellion now—to stay human in a world obsessed with automation.