An AI-generated Rumpelstiltskin meme is freaking out much of the internet

Rumpelstiltskin famously spun straw into gold.Now, AI has spun the fairy-tale character into an eerie internet meme.In recent days, a clip began circulating widely online featuring what many described as a “creepy” imp-like character.

The imp approaches a woman sitting in a heap of straw and dances before her while she’s frightened to tears.Then, he turns all the straw in the room into gold coins, causing her to exclaim with joy.

She kisses him, turning him into a prince.It’s a scene reminiscent of the German fairy tale about Rumpelstiltskin, a magical imp who spins straw into gold for a poor miller’s daughter.The bizarre clip, which looks straight out of an old movie, sent people searching for the film it must have originated from.Some were convinced it was part of the 1987 “Rumpelstiltskin” film, a musical adaptation of the classic tale.It took days before viewers began realizing it was simply AI-generated.

By then, the meme had already become a viral format, and users cared little about its AI origins.The original clip was posted online in August by self-described AI artist and filmmaker Tatyana Tereshchenko.Over the past week, users began setting the clip to the rapper Riff Raff’s song “Tip Toe Wing In My Jawwdinz,” turning it into a full-fledged meme.One of the first users to popularize it, according to the online meme database Know Your Meme, paired the clip with the caption: “The type of dreams I be having after taking dollar store melatonin.” It racked up more than 900,000 views on TikTok in less than a week.Others used the clip to describe scenarios like “creeping downstairs at 2am for a lil treat,” “having to walk the aisle in Payless shoe to make sure our $15 shoes fit just right,” and “acing the field sobriety test” at a traffic stop.Internet users quickly found themselves obsessed with the meme.

As one user put it: “It’s Stuck in my head all day.That little guy is so creepy.”AI-generated media has increasin...