What is TikTok’s latest ghost detection trend? How to use TikTok’s AI manga filter

Are you an anime or manga lover who wants to hop on the latest AI selfie trend but you’re not so bothered that you’re willing to shell out on a Lensa subscription? You’re in luck, because those two areas of interest are currently overlapping for free, and all you need is a TikTok account.

Though user beware, and not for the usual reasons such as not knowing how safe your facial recognition data is and all of that privacy jazz. It turns out that the AI manga filter doubles as a ghost detection tool, as initially observed by TikTok user @fesch6, who took a number of seemingly innocuous photos of her room, which the filter turned into a number of anime ‘ghosts.’

While we’re happy to report that the We Got This Covered office appears to be free of anime ghosts, many others such as @fesch6 and commenters on the clip haven’t been so lucky. We’d advise satiating your curiosity about what you’d look like in manga form and leaving the ghost-hunting tool alone, unless you want to be losing sleep tonight for fear of that chair in the corner of your room turning into an anime girl. So, with all disclaimers out of the way, how exactly do you access this filter?

Where to find the AI manga filter on TikTok

Unleashing your inner anime character (or the anime demons that lurk in your surroundings) is a fairly straightforward affair. Open up TikTok, hit the ‘+’ button on the bottom of the screen, then open up the ‘Effects’ list on the left of the record button. 

From there, assuming that the filter hasn’t rocketed to the top of the trending page yet, you’ll want to hit the magnifying glass (second button to the left of trending) to search “Ai manga.” Below is the exact filter you’re looking for:

From there, flip your camera depending on whether or not you want to ghost hunt or take a selfie, then tap the screen and enjoy (or be horrified by) the results. As you can see above, I ended up looking like slightly younger but still cowardly Hannes from Attack on Titan, which, as saddening as that is, at least there’s no ghosts lurking over my shoulder.