If you’re someone who is already a little leery of artificial intelligence and super-smart computers, this post might not be for you.

Because one system of image generation artificial intelligence insists on producing an inarguably creepy image of the same unknown woman – a woman who is “persistent, and haunts every image she touches.”

🧵: I discovered this woman, who I call Loab, in April. The AI reproduced her more easily than most celebrities. Her presence is persistent, and she haunts every image she touches. CW: Take a seat. This is a true horror story, and veers sharply macabre. pic.twitter.com/gmUlf6mZtk

— Supercomposite (@supercomposite) September 6, 2022

The face was first spotted by AI image creator Supercomposite when they were doing some negative prompt weight experiments.

A negative weight prompt asks the AI to create something as far away as possible from the original prompt instead of asking it to return exactly what you’ve queried.

In this case, Supercomposite typed “Brando,” then gave it a negative weight. The AI returned a logo of a silhouetted town with the words “DIGITA PNTICS” written across it.

I'll explain negative prompt weights, in case you don't know. With these, instead of creating an image of the text prompt, the AI tries to make the image look as different from the prompt as possible. This logo was the result of the negatively weighted prompt "Brando::-1". pic.twitter.com/c1XfkN23hu

— Supercomposite (@supercomposite) September 6, 2022

Curious, Supercomposite typed a description of the logo and assigned that a negative weight, thinking perhaps a picture of Marlon Brando would appear.

Instead, an image of an eerie woman and some text that read LOAB appeared instead.

Supercomposite decided to use the images of Loab as a prompt for more experiments, and I don’t know…he might wish that he hadn’t.

Through some kind of emergent statistical accident, something about this woman is adjacent to extremely gory and macabre imagery in the distribution of the AI's world knowledge. pic.twitter.com/BIrVPr0Qva

— Supercomposite (@supercomposite) September 6, 2022

“Through some kind of emergent statistical accident, something about this woman is adjacent to extremely gory and macabre imagery in the distribution of the AI’s world knowledge.”

Whatever prompt was used along with her name, the images that returned were always horrific and gory, and featured Loab front and center – and she continued to return, sometimes at unexpected times.

How the image was created or by what system remains a mystery, but we do know that AI image generators create these little mysteries on occasion.

Through some kind of emergent statistical accident, something about this woman is adjacent to extremely gory and macabre imagery in the distribution of the AI's world knowledge. pic.twitter.com/BIrVPr0Qva

— Supercomposite (@supercomposite) September 6, 2022

Midjourney, another system, has consistently produced the face of another (more normal-looking) woman who users have called “Miss Journey,” for example.

Most creators are sure there is a rational explanation to be found, and that it will reveal something about how AI learns and associates concepts.

As for Supercomposite, he also worries that he could have “brought a real IRL demon to life.”

Unlikely, but expect to see the story in a theater near you some day.