Loab is an AI-generated entity summoned by writer-artist Steph Maj Swanson.
Loab is an emergent character that arises in certain AI image synthesis models, accessible via negatively weighted prompts. Despite not being a real person, the AI could reproduce Loab more consistently than most celebrities. Even more unsettlingly, feeding images of Loab back into the model often resulted in disturbing, gruesome imagery - often of dismembered women and children - all while preserving her recognizable likeness.
It is not known exactly why Loab has arisen.
For more about the artist, visit supercompo.site.
The story of Loab quickly secured a place in Internet folklore.
Loab has been featured by media outlets worldwide, and is a subject of pop-culture commentary, art criticism, technical discussion, academic research, hoax accusations, ethical debate, video essays, podcasts, and fanwork.
"Loab is a form of expression that has never existed before"
The Atlantic
"Loab sparked some lengthy ethical conversations around visual aesthetics, art and technology."
Smithsonian Magazine
"The thread, with its genuinely interesting and unsettling elements combined with the mythos of an actual demon lurking within AI algorithms, is something that will probably have the movie rights auctioned off to Netflix by the end of the day."
Forbes
"Loab might seem like standard creepypasta, but her origins are a whole lot more mysterious."
Rolling Stone
"I'm not sleeping tonight. Loab is everywhere."
PC Gamer
"Many social media users [are] convinced the woman is a 'demon that inhabits the AI art generators.'"
The Daily Mail
"Quite disturbing"
Der Spiegel
"Truly nightmarish [...]
Wherever she came from, Loab is here to stay."
Artnet
"Could [Loab] be part of a new form of mythmaking, embedded with our fears about the boundless imagination of AI?"
Dazed
"One could liken some of Loab's creations to the powerlessness some feel when they're being driven by an untreated mental illness."
Distractify
"Truly macabre"
Metro
"Loab evolved and cropped up in ever more disturbing scenarios, but remained recognisable."
The New Scientist
"A story that grows more and more disturbing with every tweet"
The Marker
"I can confirm this is not a creepypasta, this is an actual anomaly in latent space that infects images"
@ai_curio
"The Blair Witch for multimodal AI"
Holly Herndon
"Loab is not real. Right? Say it with me.
Loab is ň̴̖̭͂͋o̸̎͊̀͜t̴͇͉͑̅ͅ ̶͔͎̕͠r̵̤̹̄̌̇ȅ̷̛͎̪̱́å̴̱̲̃̚l̸̡͓̳͑͗͠
L̵͈̹̳̂̐͠ò̴̢͛̓a̶̡̛̟̳͑b̴̡̘̠͆̌ ̶̳͌ï̵͚͍͋s̷̫̼̿͐̋ ̷̳̍ň̴̖̭͂͋o̸̎͊̀͜t̴͇͉͑̅ͅ ̶͔͎̕͠r̵̤̹̄̌̇ȅ̷̛͎̪̱́å̴̱̲̃̚l̸̡͓̳͑͗͠ "
CNET