Can AI Make Memes?

If you don’t know who Keyser Söze is and what the Eight Rules of Fight Club are, then this story ain’t for you. Buzz off!

Why? Because house music is a spiritual thing and memes are a cultural thing.

Memes Cultura: Movies and Sepultura

I remember when I watched the first Scary Movie with my daughter. We had a nice time and some good laughs. But, it just didn’t feel right. I had to do something about it. I have to be honest; it took some time to explain what parody movies are. She was a good and patient kid. I got her interested and invested in watching a bunch of movies that were parodied in Scary Movie (2000). Then, we sat down and rewatched it.

I was a proud dad looking at my daughter having more than one eureka moment. Aha, this scene is from that movie, and so on. Now, it was more enjoyable and even funnier.

Years later, we watched Ready Player One. I have to admit; this was next level even for me. I had to try really hard to catch up with all those comics, video games, and other movie references. Then, out of the blue, we had the most profound and spontaneous moment, I’d remember as long as I live.

Daddy, can you find me a movie this scene is from? I really wanna watch it. OMG, it was no other than THE SHINING. I had tears in my eyes. I was about her age when I read the book. I never believed it’d make it to the big screen. Oh Kubrick, you genius bastard! You faked the Moon landing (allegedly) and made the movie history (undeniably).

Those were the days before TikTok took her away from me and my cultural influence for good.

Singularity Rhymes With Creativity

Are we there yet? Nope. Until AI makes a meme all by itself, I don’t give a damn about the Turing test or the infamous CAPTCHA cheat.

Look, let’s get something straight right away. The pictures of Kamala Harris in a McDonald's uniform and Donald Trump as a Warhammer 40K Space Marine are NOT legit memes, but AI-shenanigans.

Lemme show you exactly what I mean.

Now, that’s a legit old-school meme with a point. I’m bringing this one up because I wrote about Fiverr's Out-of-Tune Marketing Campaigns. So, this was an unexpected and a pleasant surprise.

Have I tried some AI meme generators? Yes, I have. Was I happy with the results? No!

I’m a fair player and a Good Karma believer. That’s why I’m not going to call out any of these companies and tools by name. I respect their efforts and hard work. They’ll get there, eventually. They just need to feed AI meme generators with more old comics and movies; and less with new features and options.

Let’s wrap it up with some food for thought. If the governments (plural) go after the memes, that’s the right reason to turn on your panic mode. If AI (singular-ity) surprises you with a great meme, that’s the right reason to turn off your skeptic mode.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then memes are worth winning the elections. Let that sink in.