AI has just turned the internet’s favourite memes into videos and the results are... mixed, to say the least.
Interest in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been growing rapidly ever since the chatbot ChatGPT went live.
Now, other programmes have been used to turn still memes into moving images through AI – and it is creating some truly disturbing narratives.
After all, memes are funny images, videos or text which are copied and spread across the internet with slight variations to alter its meaning.
They’ve been a staple of internet culture for years.
And even if the original footage or cartoon they came from was in fact moving – such as a YouTube video or a gif – most memes appear to live for a longer period of time in terms of internet fame if they’re still images.
So, you can imagine how alarming it is when users started to ask Stability AI’s first open generative AI video model to create a moving picture from the memes.
To ease you in, we can start with the classic stock image of a man checks out a woman walking past while his apparent partner looks at him in disbelief – yes, the famous “distracted boyfriend”. Here’s what AI has done to it....
Another user imagined what would happen if the stared-at woman ended up turning around (and somehow changing clothes at the same time)?
Then we move onto the famous girl who seemed pretty pleased that a nearby building was burning down. AI makes her smile and fire lights up her face as she seems to attempt a blink....
Another stock image of an elderly man having a hot drink and staring at his laptop with slight desperation in his eyes is transformed into a pretty happy chap by AI.
But, elsewhere, the same man develops multiple arms as he tries to access his laptop....
Something very strange happens with the eyes of the famous baby who seems to be celebrating with a fist pump in this altered meme.
And the “This Is Fine” image of a smiling dog drinking coffee in a burning house – originally from a comic strip – has been brought to life to imagine more flames concealing the character.
Even memes from YouTube videos have been reimagined – triggering some uncomfortable outcomes.
And not even reality TV meme were safe.