I waded into the world of AI art on a lark. I had a feeling that experimenting with it would provide a measure of fun, but it wasn’t until I dove into the weeds with these tools that I began to realize just how captivating and entertaining it can be. Options for prompts are limited only by imagination, and hours can fly by as I continue tuning results. I am tantalized by near-misses and oh-so-close approaches to the ideas in my mind. Honing the prompt and seeing the results vary iteration after iteration may be boring to those more inclined to instant gratification. For me, the process is equal parts meditation, frustration, and gut-busting laughter.
Today, I decided to try something very different. I kept the prompt dead-simple by invoking the dank meme: It is Wednesday, my dudes.
An internet classic: the equally beloved and reviled “It is Wednesday, My Dudes.”
Aware that the model I’m using was trained on many millions of internet images, I was curious how the bot would interpret a meme with no other description or reference image. Well, the images the bot returned were nearly all some variation of frogs (per the original meme’s template). I found the bot’s attempts at the inclusion of text to be quite amusing. Although AI chatbots are incredibly eloquent when it comes to generating text, the art generators have very little interest in spelling or grammar, which is just fine by me. Everyone has their own forté, after all.
TIS I IT ITY IPEED ELS. IIT IS IT IS WEDES.
Emboldened by the results I got from this meme, I thought I would attempt to plumb the depths of this bot’s meme knowledge. Here are the best results I got when prompting with nothing but memetic monickers:
Hide the Pain Harold, “The Last of Us” Edition:
Not even the Cordyceps apocalypse can diminish his resolve to hide the pain.
Disaster Girl, Performing the Unflinching Walk:
Antonio Banderas ain’t got nothin’ on this kid.
Success Kid, Reimagined:
We’re all familiar with the towheaded little scrapper holding his fist in the air triumphantly, right? Well, this bot isn’t. At least, not from the words “Success Kid.” It surprised me that this meme was so hard to coax something halfway decent from, but the best of the bunch appear in the slideshow below:
Interesting how this one seemed to mix in the Girl Running meme. Here, she has finally stopped running. Success, I guess? 
Sometimes this bot scares me. This child’s success rings hollow, at best. 
On this go, we have a young Jeremy Renner. From Hawkeye to Success Kid. Given all he’s been through recently, I suppose he’s deserving of the title.
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Grumpy Cat
By contrast, the bot knew Grumpy Cat very well. After several unaltered prompts (just typing in grumpy cat) and seeing spectacular results, I had to have a go at giving the critter some guided scenarios:
This is what you get when you simply type “Grumpy Cat” into the bot. Too easy. 
Again, the only prompt was “Grumpy Cat”. 
This was the last go of me only using the words “Grumpy Cat”. Next up: a descent into (my) madness… 
Here, we see Grumpy Cat and Grumpy Cat hubby posing for a nice portrait as IRS agents photobomb an otherwise perfect moment. 
For this one, I requested “Grumpy Cat being carried to heaven by angels,” and I was rewarded with an additional Grumpy Cat and… this guy. 
Another from the “Heaven” series. This one’s a little closer to what I wanted, though a bit psychedelic. 
Even on her way to heaven, she looks pissed. 
Grumpy Cat in a Hieronymus Bosch painting. 
Finally, executing the dark will of Basement Cat.
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Doge
At last, we have the most ubiquitous and perhaps the dankest of all memes shown today: Doge (alternately, Shibe). Surely, this little guy is equally present on the internet, right? Surely, the bot will give me what I want just off of the prompt Doge, right?
Not bad! Seriously though, this dog looks like it should be standing beside Steve McQueen. 
An interesting attempt at an actual meme. Again, the language is wackier than lorem ipsum. 
A tactical shibe taking a break on a warm spring day. 
The Shibe spirit contacts young Doge through a cloud. 
Here. Stare at this on your next acid trip.
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What did we learn today?
Not a damn thing. But I hope you had some fun. I plan on making more meme posts in the future, so if you like this sort of thing, stay tuned!