A Crungus is an imaginary creature found in

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

text-to-image model A text-to-image model is a machine learning model which takes an input natural language prompt and produces an image matching that description. Text-to-image models began to be developed in the mid-2010s during the beginnings of the AI boom ...

s, sometimes also referred to as a digital

cryptid Cryptids are animals or other beings whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. Cryptozoology, the study of cryptids, is a pseudoscience claiming that such beings may exist somewhere in the wild; it has been widely cri ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle c ...

streamer,

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

, and comedian Guy Kelly found that typing the made-up word into the Craiyon image generator consistently produced pictures of a monstrous, hairy humanoid. He later tweeted about this which resulted in a very long thread of reactions and experiments with "Crungus" and variations of this AI-prompt also on different engines. Since Craiyon version 2 was introduced in 2023, the prompt "Crungus" no longer produces the same imaginary creature.

Origins

It is unclear how the Crungus in Craiyon's output came into existence. Kelly thinks an error in the AI software models is the most likely explanation. In any case, the

Krampus The Krampus () is a horned anthropomorphic figure who, in the Central and Eastern Alpine folkloric tradition, is said to accompany Saint Nicholas on visits to children during the night of 5 December (''Krampusnacht''; "Krampus Night"), imme ...

was quickly eliminated as a model. Although the horned mythical figure from the

Alpine region The main valleys of the Alps, orographically by drainage basin. Rhine basin (North Sea) High Rhine *Aare **Limmat ***Linth (Glarus) **** Lake Walen ***** Seeztal **** Klöntal **** Sernftal **Reuss ***Lake Lucerne ****Sarner Aa (Brünig Pass c ...

has a similar name and his mask looks almost exactly the same, the term "Krampus" on Craiyon provides different images. Kelly also speculated at the AI was responding to the "-rungus" suffix, noting the similar appearance of heavy metal performer

Oderus Urungus David Murray Brockie (August 30, 1963 – March 23, 2014) was a Canadian-American musician. He was the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Gwar, in which he performed as Oderus Urungus, and he was a bassist and lead singer in the bands ...

, and could be interpreting the word as something "

orc An orc (sometimes spelt ork; ), in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy fiction, is a race of humanoid monsters, which he also calls "goblin". In Tolkien's ''The Lord of the Rings'', orcs appear as a brutish, aggressive, ugly, and malevol ...

-based", in reference to the fantasy creatures.

References

{{reflist Artificial intelligence art Text-to-image generation Internet characters introduced in 2022 Internet memes introduced in 2022 Internet meme characters

Origins

See also

References