OpenAI's ChatGPT trend for 'ridiculously bad' AI images goes viral
Users flood social media with deliberately terrible AI drawings from a simple prompt.
Korean creative director Wonjae Gi started the trend by sharing a prompt on Threads that instructs AI to 'redraw the attached image in the most clumsy, scribbly and utterly pathetic way possible,' aiming to contrast the flood of polished AI visuals. After OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reshared the post on X in late April, the prompt exploded on ChatGPT. OpenAI quickly added it directly into Images 2.0, its upgraded image generation tool, while competitor Grok launched a similar 'Scribbli' template. The resulting images look like crude 90s MS Paint doodles with chaotic squiggles and derpy faces.
The trend highlights a collective fatigue with hyper-realistic AI art and a desire for playful, low-stakes creativity. Gi noted it felt surreal to watch his personal experiment become an internet phenomenon. OpenAI's product lead Adele Li called the craze 'joyful, social and instantly understandable,' arriving amid serious public discourse around AI. Unlike earlier trends like Studio Ghibli-style images, this one unapologetically embraces lo-fi imperfection, showing that even advanced AI can be used for intentionally bad, nostalgic fun.
- Prompt by Korean designer Wonjae Gi for 'most clumsy, scribbly' images went viral after OpenAI CEO Sam Altman reshared it.
- OpenAI integrated the prompt into Images 2.0; competitor Grok added a 'Scribbli' template.
- The trend contrasts polished AI outputs with intentionally low-quality, MS Paint-style doodles, evoking nostalgia.
Why It Matters
This trend shows AI's potential for playful, human-driven creativity beyond perfection, making technology more approachable.