AI-generated animal videos are sweet, until you realise the joy, like the animal, was never really there.
Cats built the internet, and they’ll usually show you where it’s going next. “I Can Haz Cheeseburger” taught us about memes. Keyboard Cat introduced millions to YouTube. Grumpy Cat’s marketing deals established a business model for influencers. Now the online world is turning again.
Animals were one of the last reliable sources of joy on an internet filled with madness – innocence in a sea of anger and clickbait. But lately I’ve felt that slipping away.
For decades my reaction to cute animal videos was softness. Now it’s suspicion: was that real, or just AI?
If you look closely, there’s a strange psychological dance playing out here that you might unwittingly be part of. And just beneath the surface, you can see the economic forces dictating the next moves from the tech giants.
I’d argue that puppies and kittens are the first casualty in the coming war on truth. They offer a glimpse of what it’s going to feel like to live through the internet’s next revolution.
“Part of the joy of cute animal videos is, ‘Oh my god, look at this adorable thing that has actually happened,'” says Jessica Maddox, an associate professor of media studies at University of Georgia, US. “AI completely removes that from the equation.”
It could be the gateway to something more harmful. The only question is how you, and I and all our cat-loving compatriots are going to react.
Why can’t AI cats be cute?
For a while I hoped this was just a me problem, the side effects of a mind turned sour by years of tech journalism. But dozens of people have told me about the same pattern.
You see an animal video that feels too good to be true, and no-one likes getting fooled. So you suspend your emotions and dive in the comments, hoping someone’s figured out whether you should be happy or disappointed.
Authenticity is a bigger problem for some genres than others. “Oddly satisfying” videos, where things move or fit together in a way that scratches your brain just right, are another victim. The same goes for the oldest form of comedy: people getting hit in the head.
It may be subconscious. “But on some level, these videos are about connection”, says Maddox, author of The Internet is for Cats: How Animal Images Shape our Digital Lives.