Bonan Tale 🍌

A short history of Bonan Hale

The most famous word in the Gamma lexicon




In early 2023, Gamma was preparing to launch AI features

The team tested a variety of AI image generation tools…

…and in the process, Gamma's favorite internal meme was born

(The prompt was about the benefits of bananas for bone health 💪🦴)

Something that nobody tells you about building with AI:

On the road to a good product…

1

The AI is going to make some bizarre (and at times wrong) stuff

2

Sometimes that stuff is going to be really, really funny

And for some reason, Bonan Hale made us laugh way harder than any other image.

So why is it so funny?

It's funny because of the reasoning

Bone + Health + Banana

=

Bonan Hale

Bananas are a good source of calcium and magnesium, which can help strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of osteoporosis. Eating bananas can also help reduce inflammation and improve your bone health.

Bananas are also a good source of potassium, which can help reduce your risk of fractures and other bone-related injuries. Eating bananas can also help reduce your risk of arthritis and other joint-related issues.

It's funny because it's art

Unlike the other images in generated alongside it…

Bonan Hale has…

Clean crisp lettering and lines

It's not muddy or illegible, unlike many AI images of this era

Bold, bright colors

It chose three complementary colors that have high visual impact together

Strong, focused, minimalist composition

Exactly 3 elements: text, banana and border

Novelty

It's not a mispelling. Invented an entirely new word

So what is bonan hale?

Bonan hale

adjective

  1. Having a humorously absurd or nonsensical quality, indicative of being AI-generated, or of "AI thinking"
  1. Something that's not quite right, often in a humorous or whimsical way
  1. Both of the above, done with extreme (and perhaps misguided) confidence

Examples of bonan

Hands

Limbs

Text

Naivete and misunderstandings

General incompetence

Jealous girlfriend meme. A man in a plaid shirt named 'ai' walking away with his girlfriend in a blue shirt named 'image of a banana'. The man is turning to eye another woman in a red dress named 'bonan hale', who is walking towards us in a red dress. The man's girlfriend is not happy, and looks jealous. Each person is clearly labeled with their name

AI: childlike incompetence mixed with supreme power

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a powerful psychic alien driving a V16 alien hotrod with an exposed engine, futuristic, alien, magic, telekinesis, space

We're at a unique time in history, watching an emerging field advance rapidly

Accuracy Humor Utility of AI So good it's useful (less soul?) So bad it's funny, which is a good rapidly moving

<1 yr ago

Today

And the current state of AI is not unlike the fun and unique websites of the 90s and 2000s…

Maturity Standardization Conversion Experimentation Personal expression Hacking

Internally, we like to celebrate the bonan →


A sign at a wildlife reserve that says "endangered species", with a picture of a banana on it. The banana is named "Bonan hale"

Especially since bonan might be in danger

Because all things are fleening and impemamrennat

and wusn't last forever

A person looking wistfully into the distance at a large banana named "bonan hale", knowing that the banana won't live forever

But bonan is here today

A woman, playing with her pet banana. The banana says 'bonan hale'

A woman, playing with her pet banana. The banana says 'bonan hale'

and in good hale

A person playing with a happy healthy banana

A skeleton with strong bones, made out of bananas. The banana is named "bonan hale"

So that's how an image about bananas

…and bone health

Accidentally gave us an icon

A dictionary lying open on the table, with a new entry that says 'bonan hale' with diagram of a banana next to it. Bonan hale is an adjective, defined as "Having a humorously absurd or nonsensical quality, indicative of being AI-generated, or of "AI thinking"

And a word we desperately needed

To describe an entirely new phenomenon

And it's kind of beautiful

That the AI described itself

A smiling banana, looking at itself in a mirror, and putting a nametag on. The nametag says "bonan hale"

A man playing with his pet banana, the banana is named 'bonan hale'

Thanks!

Made with Gamma