--- title: "People Are Using AI to Turn Memes Into Videos and It’s Low Key Terrifying" description: "The internet has been using AI to turn famous memes into videos — and a fair share of the results are nothing short of nightmare fuel." date: "2024-06-28" modified: "2024-06-28" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/video-ai-memes-into-videos" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai video" - "ai-generated content" - "generative ai" - "the digest" --- # People Are Using AI to Turn Memes Into Videos and It’s Low Key Terrifying ![The internet has been using AI to turn famous memes into videos — and a fair share of the results are nothing short of nightmare fuel.]() *\Image: Luma\* ## Yeah 360 An AI video tool called Dream Machine, developed by the company Luma Labs, transforms still images into moving pictures. As it should, the internet quickly started using the AI to turn famous memes into videos — and a fair share of the results are nothing short of nightmare fuel. Behold, for example, the [first clip]() in this compilation of horrors, as shared to the subreddit r/aivideo. It's an AI-zombified video created from the famous "[disaster girl]()" meme, in which a young girl is seen giving the camera a smirking, chaotic look as a house burns behind her. In the original meme, several firefighters are pictured in the background. In the AI's version, these firefighters wriggle around, morphing and moving with a dreamlike sensibility as they pitter-patter about the disaster scene. One of them then approaches — but, horrifyingly, her face changes several times as she draws nearer. The AI then settles on the face of yet another young child, who then *turns and runs toward the fire.* (There's also a very random man who suddenly appears in the side of the screen, and it looks sort of like the two girl characters actually morph together before sprinting into the flames.) Then over on Twitter, there's [this AI-spun clip]() of the "[distracted girlfriend]()" meme (a version of the infamous "distracted boyfriend" image.) In the AI's retelling, the girlfriend's head does a horror movie-esque 360 turn. There's also something very haunting that happens with her hand. https://twitter.com/hey_madni/status/1802696733161611315 ## The Fifth Beatle While some of these AI clips might keep us up at night, other AI-animated images that gained traction online were decidedly more mundane. And in some cases, netizens wondered why someone would need to use AI in the first place. "Burning down the Amazon to harness the magic of AI in order to finally find out what Captain Picard from Star Trek looked like," one X user — referring to generative AI's massive [environmental footprint]() — [quipped]() in response to someone using AI to animate a meme of the "Star Trek" franchise's Captain Picard, even though the meme was originally taken from... a video. https://twitter.com/tristandross/status/1802266798529626371?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1802266798529626371%7Ctwgr%5Edf0c6b68f1084ac6dfd47d7906624afd6c472e6a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Fx.com%2Ftristandross%2Fstatus%2F1802266798529626371image%3D We're also a little obsessed with this AI animation of the Beatles' Abbey Road cover art, which inexplicably adds a fifth band member to the iconic quartet. https://twitter.com/JamianMedia/status/1802174850154238363 Anyway. These are freaky as all get out, but we have to admit that they do make us laugh — as long as they're not making us shudder in fear, of course. And on that note, we'll leave you with another favorite: an animated "[Zuckerberg is watching]()" meme, which we hope will live rent-free in your head like it is in ours. https://twitter.com/hey_madni/status/1801900713309831218 **More on generative AI:** [*The CEO of Anthropic Has a Framed Picture of a Giant Robot Destroying a City on His Wall*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()