The AI schoolgirl “Amelia” was built to deter extremism. Now she is a far-right meme

In recent weeks the Amelia AI meme has slipped from obscure corners of social media into mainstream timelines, pushed along by a simple fact: she is not real, but she is endlessly reusable.

“Amelia” appears as a purple-haired British schoolgirl, styled as a “goth girl”, often shown with a small Union flag. In the clips now circulating widely, she roams London streets or the House of Commons, declaring her love of England while repeating lines about migrants and Muslims that will be familiar to anyone who has spent time in far-right online spaces.

In one frequently shared scenario, she is confronted by a man in Islamic dress for eating pork. In others, she delivers slogans about “British values” as though reading from a script.

The words are not new. The format is.

A character designed for classrooms

The twist is that Amelia began life in a government-funded counter-extremism project aimed at teenagers. The original package, created for use alongside teaching materials, asks young players to make choices in a college setting, including whether to download extremist content or attend a rally hosted by a small political group.

Some pathways in the game lead to a fictional referral into the Prevent system.

The resource remains publicly available as an educational tool, including classroom guidance and context for teachers, and can be viewed here.

How it escaped its original purpose

What has surprised those involved in the project is not that it has been criticised, but how quickly Amelia has been reworked into a shareable icon.

Using mainstream image and video generators, users have created versions of her in manga style, as stop-motion clay, and as “real life” encounters inserted into familiar British pop culture. The character’s adaptability has made the Amelia AI meme easy to replicate and difficult to contain.

Researchers who track online manipulation say the pattern is typical. Once a template lands, it can be copied, tweaked, and reposted at a pace that outstrips moderation, and the same character can be used to speak to different audiences while carrying the same message.

From meme to money

The commercial spin has been harder to ignore. A cryptocurrency token linked to the character has surfaced, alongside posts encouraging users to trade on her rising profile.

“What we’re seeing is the monetisation of hate,” said Matteo Bergamini, the founder and chief executive of Shout Out UK. He said his organisation had received a flood of abuse, including death threats, which have been reported to the police.

Bergamini insists the project was never intended to stand alone as a game. It was built to sit alongside teacher-led resources, and he rejects claims that it treats any debate about migration as extremist by default.

Others argue that the design choice, a “cute goth girl” cast as an antagonist, made the character easy to detach from the original warning and recast as an object of admiration. Bergamini says focus groups informed the project, and feedback from schools has been positive.

Analysts at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue say the meme’s spread is notable not only for its volume, but for the way it travels.

Siddharth Venkataramakrishnan, an analyst at ISD, said the Amelia AI meme has been embraced by a loose ecosystem, including “shitposters” seeking provocation and more committed online extremists, with sexualised imagery often used to hold attention. He said the appeal appears strongest among young men.

The Home Office has said Prevent is designed to divert people away from violent ideologies, and that local projects are commissioned to respond to local patterns of risk.

For more reporting on UK news, follow EyeOnLondon. We’d like to hear what you think in the comments.

The original investigation that brought the Amelia phenomenon to wider attention was published by the Guardian.

[Image Credit | HUM News]

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