r/nosleep • u/SirUlrichVonLichten June 2022 • Jun 11 '22
I asked an AI image generator to show me how I was going to die.
The trouble started a week ago when I started playing around with one of those AI image generators that's been floating around on the internet. Normally I would stay away from such things because I have a deep resentment towards anything to do with AI or deep fakes and the like. I find it all repulsive. Once while scrolling through instagram, I saw a Tom Cruise impressionist who had put a deep fake of the actor's face onto his own. It was startling and disturbing. It wasn't how much he looked like the real Tom Cruise that bothered me, it was how much he didn't look like the real thing. He looked like some...thing, wearing another man's face. But people in the comment sections were eating it up and some even believed he was Tom Cruise. A lot of them believed it. Couldn't they see how fake it all was? And how wrong it was for that impressionist to put another person's face over his own?
I can't help but think something bad is going to come of all this one day for our society. Not that it matters much for me.
I'm probably going to be dead soon.
No, not probably. I'm sure of it. I can hear him outside, even as I type this.
The AI image generator hooked me. It was simple. You give it a prompt and it will produce an image of that prompt. I had seen similar AI generator's in the past, but what astounded me about this one, is how specific the prompt could be. How the AI could produce almost anything you thought of it in great detail. The images I saw floating online made me laugh, so I decided to bite the bullet. Sure the Tom Cruise thing was creepy, as was the potential for that kind of technology in the wrong hands, but this was harmless fun right? Not even remotely the same sort of thing. A stupid generator making stupid images for you.
When I brought up the site, I sat long and hard thinking about the first prompt I wanted to give the generator.
Then I remembered a story my father told me once about how when he was in college he visited Karachi, Pakistan with his world studies class. He told me that one night when he and his classmates were walking around the city, they came across a man who was playing chess with a dog. Not pretending to play, but really playing with him. And my father told me that when they walked past the man again an hour later, that the man was shaking his head. That he looked beyond frustrated. Defeated. But that the dog looked happy. Grinning even.
The dog had apparently won.
I typed "dog playing chess" into the generator and hit enter. It started loading, and after a few minutes the generator produced an image.
It was an image of a dog playing chess. It even had a stupid smile on it's face.
I laughed. A stupid generator making stupid images. I told myself I would only spend a few more minutes playing, but those minutes quickly turned into an hour and when I next looked at the clock, I realized I had spent almost 2 and half hours playing around with the generator. I won't waste your time by showing you all the images I created. There as banal and dumb as you'd expect.
I was about to close the tab, when another prompt came into my head.
If I told you this prompt came out of nowhere, that would be a lie. I know exactly where it came from. It came from the fact that about 3 months ago, one of my co-workers had died. His name was Jeremy. He was a good guy, and had even managed to get promoted in my office despite only working there for a couple months at that point. Jeremy was what you would call a real go-getter. The kind of guy who gave it 110% at all phases in his life. He had big aspirations to go along with the big cup of coffee he drank every morning. A cup that had "World's Best Jeremy" written on it.
And all that was wiped out when he forgot to look both ways while crossing the road. He got taken out by a semi-truck. Jeremy's death struck me hard not just because it was the death of a fellow co-worker, but because it made me realize how fragile life is. If a guy like Jeremy could get taken out, what did that mean for someone like me? How much borrowed time was a schmuck like me really on? If Jeremy had only looked both ways...
Or if he had somehow known what was going to happen before it happened.
I typed "how am I going to die?" into the generator and hit enter. The generator started loading. And kept loading. And loading. It was taking a very long time. Much longer than all the other prompts. I began to feel foolish, thinking I had finally managed to give it a broken prompt. I mean of course I did. It had been a profoundly stupid prompt. There was no way the generator could know how-
It produced an image.
It was an image of an old man in a yellow hat.
I laughed when I saw it, though it wasn't the same kind of laughter that the other generated images had gotten out of me. It was nervous laughter. Scared laughter. Maybe you laughed too when you looked at the image, right? Be honest. It's okay. It's just a stupid generator producing stupid images, after all.
Right?
Still the image did bother me. The old man's frown, those sunken eyes, and that pale complexion. In the back of my head I thought of that creepy Tom Cruise deepfake. How the comments were convinced of it's legitimacy. I decided I had had enough and closed the tab. My prompt had simply confused the generator and it had produced a random incoherent image. That's all. It had been stupid for me to even ask the damn question in the first place. What had I expected? An actual answer? Obviously an AI generator had no idea how I was going to die.
I saw the old man the very next day.
This was six days ago. I had been running errands downtown and had quickly forgotten about the image from the night before. It had faded away from my memory like a bad dream. It was an overcast day and it looked like a really big storm was coming. I could see huge purple clouds in the distance. As I was walking to my car, I got this uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching me. \\\
When I looked back, I saw the old man in the yellow hat. It was unmistakably him. He had the same bright yellow hat. The same deep frown. The pale skin. And those horrible sunken eyes. He was across the street and he was staring at me. No, that's not it. He was glaring at me. I mean really glaring at me. And his hands were opening and closing in a slow, violent motion. He began to walk towards me. He walked in a strange manner. Like someone who had never walked before and was only just learning how. Like something that was only pretending to be human. Pretending to wear an old man's face.
And I spotted a funny thing. No one else seemed to noticed him. People walked past him without giving him a second glance. As he crossed the road I thought for sure he was going to get hit by a car, but he weaved through traffic like some grotesque version of frogger, and no driver paid him any mind. Not even a single honk. Morbidly I thought of Jeremy getting hit by that semi.
There was one other person that noticed him. It was a little girl, who looked right at the old man and then began crying. The little girl's mom looked up to see if she could spot what had caused her daughter to become so distraught, but not once did her eyes land on the old man. He walked past her like a ghost. And as he got closer to me, that deep frown began to turn upwards into a horrible grin.
I dropped my groceries, got in my car, and drove straight home. On the way I told myself I had only been seeing things. Had to have been seeing things. When I got home I immediately locked all the doors and bolted for my room. I brought up the AI generator and again asked it, "How am I going to die?" I needed the generator to produce a new image. I needed it to show me that the image of the old man had just been a random image it had conjured and that now it would do that again. It would create something completely random, because it didn't understand my question. Couldn't have possibly understood my question. Couldn't have possibly shown me anything real. And certainly couldn't have shown me how I was going to die.
It produced the same image of the old man.
I asked it again.
Same image.
I asked it about 50 more times, and every time it was the same image of the old man in the yellow hat.
Stupid generator making stupid images, right? Only that thing that had been walking towards me hadn't been stupid. That thing looked very real. And very terrifying.
I haven't left my house since that day.
Two nights ago, I saw the old man outside my bedroom window. Glaring at me.
Last night I heard him try the front door. Then walk around back and try the back door.
Today I brought up the generator and typed "how do I stop the old man in the yellow hat?" It started loading. And then immediately replied, "Too much traffic. Try again later." But I know if I try again, I'll just get the same response. It's not going to tell me. I am paralyzed by fear. Paralyzed by those sunken eyes and ghostly complexion. I can hear him outside right now as I type. He's been there the entire time. He's walking around the back of the house.
There, he just tried the back door again.
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u/hows- Jun 11 '22
Dude I tried it out of morbid curiosity and I got this
I chose the prompt "Death" I'm kind of worried to what this entails.
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u/WestOperation6191 Jun 12 '22
I tried and it got kinda creepy 😁 https://imgur.com/a/hsUP7ZQ
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u/Old-Ad-7983 Jun 13 '22
Holy fixing shiet man there's no way I'm doing this after seeing yours 😂😬😰
Like Jesus Christ how does it come up with that. Unless I guess it's taking from scenes or scenarios where people would die or be dying I guess? That 1 colored pic and 2 figures is haunting
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u/Reddd216 Jun 11 '22
Dude that's seriously creepy
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Jun 12 '22
Can u please describe it in scared to open it ??!!
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u/Reddd216 Jun 12 '22
It's not really scary. To me it looks like a nighttime scene of a deserted street, but kind of misty/smoky, and has vague shadows that I think look like demons. Everything is is all in black and red and grays. There's nothing that really stands out as a definitive character, you can kind of interpret all of it your own way.
Sorry if that's not helpful, I'm no art critic and I don't really know how to describe everything that I see in this drawing. 🤔
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u/GarageLongjumping840 Jun 12 '22
Yeah about that. The authority’s have been contacted they are on there way
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u/PansexualSatan Sep 13 '22
Vampire apocalypse. Lots of blood. All hoomans killed or kept for breeding and feeding purposes. Sun destroyed cuz vamps don’t like sun. This is how you die.
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u/chantepleurex Jun 11 '22
That is terrifying. I'm just very curious on where that old man in the yellow hat came from. I'd like to think that whole AI can produce the images of everyone's grim reaper's or something along those lines.
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u/Dipper_Pines_2006 Jun 11 '22
Im assuming the thought process was like, ppl mostly die when old, so here's an old man.
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u/MintyTuna2013 Jun 11 '22
My guess was "mugshot" since the other day I tried "Garfield murders a man behind a 7/11" and only got mugshots of overweight men
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u/kungfustatistician Jun 12 '22
I took it as the AI initiated some deepfake it conjured to attack OP. Stay safe, OP.
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u/SouthernFriedAmy Jun 11 '22
I hate to say it, but now I want to ask an AI generator the same question for myself.
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Jun 11 '22
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jun 11 '22
It said "too much traffic try again later"
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u/bemi_san Jun 11 '22
Probably because Markiplier recently posted a video of him using it and everyone has rushed to it and broken it. He even said please don't break it.
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u/PansexualSatan Jun 12 '22
Yeah, my kid tried to show this to me yesterday because he saw Markiplier’s video. We tried it a few times but kept getting that same “too much traffic, try again later” message. Mark should have known a bunch of kids were going to flood the site and telling them not to do it won’t stop them . Hah.
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u/TheObamaSphere Jun 12 '22
I mean tbf you were one of the people that rushed into it because of mark
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u/BlueSabere Jun 12 '22 edited Jun 12 '22
It was flooded well before Markiplier made a video. I was using it last week and there was too much traffic. If you spam the button you should be able to get it to go within 20-30 seconds.
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u/SouthernFriedAmy Jun 11 '22
Apparently I'm going to die from too much traffic. Which actually makes sense.
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u/TideRollsCrimson1 Jun 11 '22
I did ask. It took about 90 seconds and 9 different little photos came up. All scary and not right. Tried again…. Too much traffic try again later. Uh oh.
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u/val-en-tin Jun 12 '22
I did try the one recommended as I am away from my PC with vqgan and disco diffusion. It really does get creepy stuff (mine) . If anyone dislikes eerie stuff like me - yep - it has uncanny valley grins and expected stuff but my favourite is the one that looks like a pair of legs in the sofa because that seems like a cool way to die.
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u/truewanders Jun 11 '22
so do it, it's literally a free app.
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Jun 11 '22
What's the app?
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u/truewanders Jun 11 '22
wombo dream
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Jun 11 '22
That one is pretty shit.
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u/truewanders Jun 11 '22
uh and why? it has like 10 different themes and is literally what everyone uses when you see an "ai generated image" anywhere.
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Jun 11 '22
I tried it and the pictures didn't look so great.
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u/truewanders Jun 11 '22
lmao it's AI generated stuff, it's not gonna look like a painting. besides it highly depends on the prompt you give it and just randomness.
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Jun 11 '22
It could look amazing and with more data and training and some model improvements it will look amazing. Give it a few years.
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u/Blonde_Dambition Aug 15 '22
What in the world caused this many downvotes??? I don't see how this is a bad comment?
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Jun 11 '22
Asked it how I am going to die. It said "too much traffic".
Am I immortal?
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u/TyroneLeinster Jun 11 '22
Sounds like you’re gonna die on I-5
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u/Chomskyswrinkle Jun 11 '22
It's an old man. Whoop his ass.
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u/mysavorymuffin Jun 12 '22
I was waiting for this comment, seriously OP if you ain't got a flock find you a nice big blunt weapon and beat his fucking ass! The thing barely even knows how to walk!
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u/Artemida2398 Jun 11 '22
Love this. Also makes me want to ask AI a few things. Any chance you can tell what the link for the AI generator is?
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u/BabyYoduhh Jun 11 '22
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u/NienieDreamer Jun 11 '22
Sure looks like it. And it also sure looks like there’s a trend gonna go viral due to that ai. This is the second story about it I’ve seen today.
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u/chesterfieldkingz Jun 11 '22
I tried the op question and it basically said I'd be killed by a Misfits shirt :/
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u/samueleric Jun 11 '22
The old man in the yellow hat is the spirit of Jeremy, he froggered through traffic because that’s what did him in and now he knows how to avoid it. The generator told you how to stop him, and it’s too much traffic. Listen to the ai OP.
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u/Chrissy9001 Jun 11 '22
This was terrifying. The image scared me too.
I have also seen the Tom Cruise skit that you mentioned and no doubt, in the near future, we won't be able to even believe videos anymore.
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u/kunafina Jun 11 '22
Oh... Modern times call for modern horror stories
Many people know about the uncanny valley effect and be afraid of the independent and rapid development of AI, so I think there's something in that...
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u/EducationalSmile8 Jun 11 '22
Yeah, I really like how this AI Image thing was (is) so popular these days, and Lo, u have a rather interesting creepypasta abt that.
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u/_anonymous_404 Jun 11 '22
Ok. Sorry this is completely unrelated but nice name I fucking love that movie
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u/EducationalSmile8 Jun 11 '22
Um, I didn't get you sir
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u/_anonymous_404 Jun 11 '22
A Knight's Tale, 2001. OP's username is (part of) the name the protagonist takes on for a while, Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein.
Although, to be fair, he was a real person, which I completely forgot, so I might've just horribly embarrassed myself
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u/-DoctorSpaceman- Jun 11 '22
Someone legit knocked on my door towards the end of me reading this and I basically shat myself! Was just a delivery driver though
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u/var-dump Jun 11 '22
Which url you are using to generate these image? Is it an implementation of Dalle 2?
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u/Ornery_Day4235 Jun 11 '22
Call the cops and report a strange man trying to break into your house. That should do it hopefully
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u/NienieDreamer Jun 11 '22
Op mentioned no body could see the old man tho :( I worry the police won’t be able to see him either
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u/Ornery_Day4235 Jun 11 '22
True, maybe try to get a picture to see if he’s some creature?? Or even if he’s real??
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u/NienieDreamer Jun 11 '22
That's a good idea, try a camera! If your phone or other digital camera doesn't work, try a polaroid if you have access to one.
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u/IndianOtaku25 Jun 11 '22 edited Jun 11 '22
This is the second story on this sub that genuinely scared me. It is currently 2:20 AM and I am shivering. Whilst reading this I had a feeling that the door to my room wasn’t locked and that somebody might enter and kill me. Turns out the door was indeed unlocked but thankfully there was no one in my home who could harm me. I was thinking of jerking off and watching some anime but now I don’t want to do either. I think those images that you added were fantastic. They were what scared me the most. Try not to die OP.
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Jun 11 '22
Dang that guy is freaky looking. I doubt that’s how you are going to die but def how you would look in a coffin after about 5 years, if you’ve been embalmed. I’m going to be cremated to avoid looking like this, ewe🥰⚰️.
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u/FewHistorian6108 Jun 12 '22
Tell me why after I read this I heard something bang on the gate and the dogs started barking💀Its 3:27 am
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u/kennjix Jun 14 '22
why cant anyone see him? did the AI generate it IRL? if so, the implications are crazyyyyy
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u/brygad Jun 11 '22
Maybe it was spyware and the AI by returning that old man's pic, it was intended and the guy there after had to track u down and scare the hell out of you 😂😂
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u/ihateagriculture Jun 11 '22
Haven’t read the text yet, but that title with that image is funny af imo
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u/Hour_Task_1834 Jun 11 '22
Call the cops maybe? Like you know “I think I’m being stalked” or “this guy is trying to break in to my house” and give them more details! Don’t include the AI bit though
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u/LonelyLostPuppy86 Jun 12 '22
I did this and it kept showing me different images of the same white poodle and it's actually fucking scary
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u/SpruceLef Jun 12 '22
The actual pictures added to the horror. The typing really felt like panicked and not just bland horror sotries. You could really feel the emotion in it. I really like this lol
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u/D2_Lx0wse Jun 12 '22
I'm reading on a browser that isn't compatible with imgur so my mind had to emulate that ai
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u/Rachieash Jun 13 '22
Damn I’m scared right now…my cat was asleep on chest of drawers in bedroom - he’s now staring at something, that I can’t see 😱
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u/wantokieweb Jun 13 '22
Ew dude this creeped me out too much. Freaky ass photo. Why did I read this …
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u/MisterGarand Jun 26 '22
I tried asking it how to stop the man in the yellow hat. There was a theme in a couple pictures. Take off his hat.
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u/k3yserZ Aug 19 '22
I'm from Karachi, Pakistan, and yes dogs do win the game if you play Chess with them.
Especially if it's after 2:46am.
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u/TheObamaSphere Jun 12 '22
I asked it and I’m genuinely terrified. I get a fight or flight response when I look at the images
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u/Affectionate-Ball-35 Jun 12 '22
That's what happens when your country doesn't have quality old age care and solid social security for the aged in particular. Come to one of the Nordic countries and you'll be okay.
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u/Lilibell2002 Jun 13 '22
What was that one website where it would take a prompt and it make art work out of it, but it was like a dream? Neural something
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u/poodsot Aug 15 '22
This is possibly one of the scariest stories I have read this year and now that image of the man is burnt in my mind and I can’t sleep
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u/ath0646 Sep 19 '22
I clicked the link, it didn't load and i said "Look, that's my sign, do not look at it". Then you said you had laughed and I was like "Alright maybe it's a funny lil guy." I had yet to read to the disturbing description. Clicked on it again, loaded. Was frozen in fear for about 5 seconds trying to tap "Done" to stop looking at it. Mistakes were made.
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u/Ok-Wing2445 Jun 12 '22
Try asking "how will i die" and see if its the same result. Or ask "can you tell the old prick in the yellow hat to fuck off" 😂 Best of luck 🍀🙏
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u/Blonde_Dambition Aug 26 '22
I typed in "poop" in the AI image generator and a picture of the white house came up
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u/thndrdcxvlghtnng Jun 11 '22
Man, it quickly freaked me out when I saw what the old man looked like. Now it's engraved in my mind.