Artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing at an exponential rate. Yet despite its rapid development—and promises of earth-shattering revolution—the makers behind the technology keep using it to animate one particular meme.
Last week, the company Luma AI introduced “Dream Machine,” an AI model that makes high-quality and realistic videos from text and images.
To showcase the new model, AI enthusiasts on social media began highlighting how the technology could turn popular meme images into videos.
The “Distracted Boyfriend” kept popping up, as it does whenever a new AI video toll is launched.
Other technologists jumped on the meme, too.
While some users were impressed, others were less than thrilled by the meme’s animation.
“These suck,” one X user replied.
Although opinions on the Dream Machine’s capabilities differed, no one could seem to escape the Distracted Boyfriend.
Seemingly, every verified technology influencer couldn’t help but obsess over it.
But even though the Dream Machine is brand new, AI models have been animating the Distracted Boyfriend for almost a year.
In November 2023, the meme was turned into a video with Stability AI’s Stable Video tool and subsequently went viral.
Just months prior, in August of that year, an AI-generated video version of the meme also garnered attention online.
Highlighting the differences between the two videos can show how far the technology has come.
But the seemingly never-ending use of Distracted Boyfriend shows, perhaps, the lack of creativity and desire for originality embedded in the AI movement.
So don’t be surprised when Distracted Boyfriend is once again used to emphasize the power of AI when the next big tool reaches the masses.
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