A Crungus is an imaginary creature found in artificial intelligence text-to-image models, sometimes also referred to as a digital cryptid. Twitch streamer, voice actor, and comedian Guy Kelly found that typing the made-up word into the Craiyon image generator consistently produced pictures of a monstrous, hairy humanoid.[1][2][3][4][5]
He later tweeted about this[6] which resulted in a very long thread of reactions and experiments with "Crungus" and variations of this AI-prompt also on different engines.
Since Craiyon version 2 was introduced in 2023, the prompt "Crungus" no longer produces the same imaginary creature.
Origins
editIt is unclear how the Crungus in Craiyon's output came into existence.[1] Kelly thinks an error in the AI software models is the most likely explanation. In any case, the Krampus was quickly eliminated as a model. Although the horned mythical figure from the Alpine region has a similar name and his mask looks almost exactly the same, the term "Krampus" on Craiyon provides different images.[5]
Kelly also speculated at the AI was responding to the "-rungus" suffix, noting the similar appearance of heavy metal performer Oderus Urungus,[5] and could be interpreting the word as something "orc-based", in reference to the fantasy creatures.[5]
See also
edit- Artificial intelligence art
- Loab, another AI generated cryptid
References
edit- ^ a b Sparkes, Matthew (September 13, 2022). "Why do AIs keep creating nightmarish images of strange characters?". New Scientist.
- ^ Rahul (June 29, 2022). "AI Dragged a Monster Out of Hell and Left it to Terrorize Internet Users!". www.globaltechoutlook.com.
- ^ "Google's AI Finds the Scary 'Crungus' that Humans are Yet to Discover". www.analyticsinsight.net. 23 June 2022.
- ^ "AI Dreamed Up a Bizarre Nightmare Creature That Doesn't Actually Exist... We Hope". Futurism.com. 21 June 2022.
- ^ a b c d Felton, James (June 21, 2022). "Nothing To Worry About: Dall-E Has Created A New Cryptid Named Crungus". IFLScience.
- ^ @brainmage (June 18, 2022). "Guy Kelly's (@brainmage)'s original tweet about the Crungus" (Tweet) – via Twitter.