Ballerina Cappuccina, an AI-generated cartoon ballerina with a cappuccino teacup for a head, is one of the most prominent characters in the internet phenomenon known as “Italian brain rot,” a series of memes that exploded in popularity this year, consisting of unrealistic AI-generated animal-object hybrids with absurdist, pseudo-Italian narration.

The trend has baffled parents, to the delight of young people experiencing the thrill of a new, fleeting cultural signifier that is illegible to older generations.

Experts and fans alike say the trend is worth paying attention to, and tells us something about the youngest generation of tweens.

Fabian Mosele, 26, calls themselves an “Italian brain rot connoisseur.” An Italian animator who lives in Germany and works with AI by trade, Mosele created their first Italian brain-rot content in March. Shortly after, Mosele's video of Italian brain-rot characters at an underground rave garnered about a million views overnight, they said. It has since topped 70 million.

In the non-virtual world, some have made physical toy replicas of the characters, while others have created real-life plays featuring them.

Mosele said Italian brain rot consumers largely don’t care about how the images relate to what is being said or sung. They often don’t even care to translate the nonsensical Italian to English.

“It’s funny because it’s nonsense,” Mosele said. “Seeing something so dark, in a way, and out of the ordinary, that breaks all the norms of what we would expect to see on TV—that’s just super appealing.”

Emilie Owens, 33, a children's media researcher, agreed that endless scrolling poses dangers for young people. But she said that the concern about brain rot is misguided.

It's normal to “view the thing the newest generation is doing with fear and suspicion, she said, pointing to how past generations have had similar concerns about the detrimental effects of comic books, television and even novels at one time.

Concerns about brain rot—that it is unproductive and pointless—actually reveal a great deal about their appeal, Owens said.

“It’s very normal for everyone to need to switch their brains off now and again,” she said.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.