Mostly soundtracked by cats meowing a Billie Eilish song, these AI-generated fantastias tell tales of cheating, revenge and violence – and are being watched by millions. At the end of 2024, Billie Eilish sat cross-legged on stage and began to miaow. Her fans erupted in harmony, each belting out an off-key miaow of their own. This is because Eilish’s track What Was I Made For? – a lachrymose Barbie cut lamenting adulthood’s ennui – has become the default soundtrack for a new breed of cat video.
While working an honest job, Mr Whiskers – wearing a red flannelette shirt – accidentally cuts his paw off while endeavoring to saw some wood into shape. He is fired, his wife divorces him and he attempts to pick up the pieces of his hard-knock life in 30 neat seconds. In another video, a muscly cat pounds a great white shark to death before saving a baby and adopting it.
The videos feature moggies with athletic human physiques who occasionally live in mansions, drive convertibles, and work corporate jobs. They find themselves routinely grief-stricken, sick, or in danger, as pop covers accompany their downfall. Each story is neat, kitsch, and nauseatingly quick – with millions of views.
In these videos, cats maintain human six-packs and two-legged swagger. They are signposted by lurid domestic catastrophes and cautionary tales about affluence, betrayal, scandal, and forgiveness. Each video is gaudy, sometimes violent, and always melodramatic. The internet has always loved cats with human attributes, and these new AI-generated cat videos seem to be the latest sensation.
