‘These are scaring me’: A new AI trend is transforming classic memes and TikTok is not about it

The latest creepy trend on TikTok is yet another reason as to why we should be absolutely horrified by AI, (as if there weren’t enough reasons already!)

AI can sometimes create some hilarious content but in the last week or so, TikTok and the internet as a whole has been flooded with videos depicting a group of “time travelers” going back in time to interrupt or prevent the punchlines of old memes and classic vines. It’s a pretty weird phenomenon that’s really taken off and it’s disturbing a lot of people on the internet.

These old videos start out the same, but the ending will be completely different to how you and I likely remember it. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then maybe it would be best just to show you — remember the 9 + 10 kid? Well, here is the new version of the video.

Pretty uncanny, right? The whole thing gives off this feeling that we’re watching something from an alternate timeline. It’s like watching a canon event be disturbed, and people have gone all in on this narrative, making up a story about how time travelers are going back in time to prevent all the internet jokes we know and love. Here’s another example of a great meme being interrupted by an unwanted presence.

Now obviously this is AI, and it would be impressive if it weren’t so terrifying. The AI essentially carries on the meme or vine given it an extended ending, or changing the ending entirely. While some of them do look very obviously generated by computers, some are actually pretty convincing, and it’s almost believable that this could be real footage of time travelers messing with our timeline. If that were the case, then we are well and truly cooked. Anyway, here’s another one that I believe came straight out of hell.

How are these videos made?

So we know it’s done with AI, but what exactly are people using to create these disturbing videos? According to an article from KnowYourMeme, the whole thing started when Luma Labs introduced a brand new AI video generating software known as “Dream Machine.” The earliest example of the software being used can be found on X (formerly Twitter) where user @hey_madni created an extended video from the distracted boyfriend picture we all know and love.

Since then the whole thing has taken on a life of its own as more and more people have been using the Dream Machine to create nightmares. It really took off after the 9 + 10 video, which is arguably the one responsible for making this trend as big as it is now.

It’s not entirely clear what prompts were put in to get the specific results, but a lot of these videos have a similar progression; they usually involve the subject of the video turning around or running away as well as a strange figure (the time traveler) usually coming out of nowhere. If you want to, you too can go ahead and make your very own AI generated time traveler video for free. Head on over to the Luma Labs website, mess around, and see what abominations you come up with.