Film fans are on the alert for any sign of AI art these days, and there seemed to be a flagrant case in The Devil Wears Prada 2. A meme appearing in the film bears all the hallmarks of AI slop, but the backlash is on hold: it turns out that it was made by human artist, who inadvertently replicated the look of AI art more convincingly than AI can replicate human-made art.
Fans of the movie are delighted by the news, and the fact the image turns out to be human-made puts a twist on some fashion brands' obsessions with machine-crafted visuals (we're looking at you Skechers). It also makes up for the strange design decisions in those Devil Wears Prada 2 posters.
Directed by David Frankel, The Devil Wears Prada 2 sees the fictional fashion magazine Runway in trouble with falling sales and a reputational crisis. The 'AI meme' appears amid a backlash against editor-in-chief Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) for failing to vet an article. It shows Miranda working at a fast-food restaurant, accompanied with the phrase “would you like some lies with that?”
As demonstrated in the video included in her post above, Alexis Franklin, a digital artist who uses Procreate and Photoshop, created the image manually. She wasn't specifically asked to recreate the look of AI, but to "create a cheap meme".
Given that many memes today are generated using AI, it makes sense that the image would end up having some of the uncanny, soulless look of AI-generated images – without using the technology. Some of the features commonly associated with AI art are present, including blurred and distorted lettering and that ubiquitous retro golden tone (AKA "piss filter").
I posted this on Instagram yesterday and got flooded with comments of relief that this gag in The Devil Wears Prada 2 was created by an actual human (me), so I figured I’d also post it here because I think these companies should get their flowers when they hire an artist. pic.twitter.com/NmEvU8NzNoMay 2, 2026
Many fans of the film are relieved to discover that the artwork was made by a human, particularly given that the topic of AI comes up in the movie as a looming threat replacing human taste – and potentially jobs. That's led to the image being seen as part of the film's statement about the importance of human craftsmanship even if it wasn't explicitly intended that way.
"I was disappointed when I saw it, but now I just appreciate it more!," one person wrote on Instagram. "The fact that they could have used AI because that could have been a joke but instead choosing not to is a slap to AI generated content and I can't love it more!" someone else wrote.
Writing on X, Alexis said she's surprised that the artwork has generated such furor.
“I was hired to create a meme, not necessarily a painting, and since the image would not be on screen long, I kind of deployed a 'logo' state of mind — it needed to be immediately readable as clearly doctored and fake, because that’s the joke.
"I didn’t go heavy on the brush strokes or 'artistry' of it. But the response to this has been so interesting. 'You nailed the AI slop of it!' is such a harrowing compliment."
