Creator of AI-Generated Pope Francis Image Admits Idea Came From Shrooms Trip
If you checked social media at all this morning, you probably saw this image of Pope Francis circulating online:
If you haven’t seen the image before, we should tell you now that it’s AI-generated. Similarly to the AI-generated image of Trump fighting off a group of cops trying to arrest him, this latest celebrity “sighting” is sparking a conversation about deepfakes becoming more and more indistinguishable from real images.
Although debunking deepfakes is still possible, mostly because people are using them to create obviously fabricated images, some people are afraid of what this means for the future. In an era where we’re already struggling to know what’s real and what isn’t, deepfakes are only adding to the anxieties.
But, we can’t fix any of that! Instead, we’re going to laugh at these Pope Francis memes because that’s really what the internet is for.
The internet floods with memes thanks to the AI Pope Francis
In an interview with Buzzfeed News, the image’s creator, Pablo Xavier, admitted he was tripping on mushrooms when he made it.
“I’m trying to figure out ways to make something funny because that’s what I usually try to do,” he said. “I try to do funny stuff or trippy art — psychedelic stuff. It just dawned on me: I should do the Pope. Then it was just coming like water: ‘The Pope in Balenciaga puffy coat, Moncler, walking the streets of Rome, Paris,’ stuff like that.”
He said he was kind of surprised by how intense the backlash was. “I just thought it was funny to see the Pope in a funny jacket,” he said.
However, we hope he’s happy to see these memes making their way around the internet.
It’s not really a meme, but Elon Musk himself responded to a post from Daily Loud about the image.
Pope Francis needs you to be dressed in your Sunday best.
Also, who wore it better? Pope Francis or…Abraham Lincoln?
When he’s not decked out, Pope Francis engages in the occasional poker game underneath the Vatican. But don’t tell anyone!
However, Pope Francis isn’t the only one with style.
Wait a second…we’ve seen someone else wear this outfit before.
Drake prefers Pope Francis’ new coat. We must please Drake.
Also…wait one more second. We’ve seen a couple people wear this outfit.
We’re starting to think Pope Francis is stealing someone’s drip, here…
Catch the Pope spitting some fire this weekend. Also, he’s spinning on Saturday!
Still, he’s looking contemplative in his white puffer jacket.
