Scroll through a tween’s TikTok or Instagram feed these days and you’re likely to stumble upon a surreal hodgepodge of AI-generated creatures: a ballerina with a cappuccino for a head, a crocodile fused to a bomber plane or a two-legged great white shark in Nike tennis shoes.

They speak in exaggerated Italian or Italian American accents, shout gibberish and vanish as quickly as they appear — only to be remixed and re-uploaded in endless variations by adolescent users or everyday content creators. This type of viral social media content trend is known as Italian brainrot.