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A Crungus is an imaginary creature found in artificial intelligence text-to-image models, sometimes also referred to as a digital cryptid. Twitch streamer, voice actor, and comedian Guy Kelly found that typing the made-up word into the Craiyon image generator consistently produced pictures of a monstrous, hairy humanoid. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
He later tweeted about this [6] 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.
It is unclear how the Crungus in Craiyon's output came into existence. [1] Kelly thinks an error in the AI software models is the most likely explanation. In any case, the Krampus was quickly eliminated as a model. Although the horned mythical figure from the Alpine region has a similar name and his mask looks almost exactly the same, the term "Krampus" on Craiyon provides different images. [5]
Kelly also speculated at the AI was responding to the "-rungus" suffix, noting the similar appearance of heavy metal performer Oderus Urungus, [5] and could be interpreting the word as something " orc-based", in reference to the fantasy creatures. [5]