Last week I shared some thoughts on how ChatGPT is a turning point. Will it improve life for everyone, or create an even bigger gap between the haves and the have-nots? I don't know.
What I do know, is that cats have already taken over ChatGPT! If you don't believe me, try out cat-gpt.com.
Type in any question, and you will get an answer in cat. Not very helpful, as none of us understand the language. But it also comes with cute cat videos.
Which made me ask the next question:
Do cats rule the internet?
Tim Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, was asked for an example of a popular use of the Internet that he would never have predicted. His answer: "Kittens".
You might be a dog person, or even an anti-cat person (shock! horror!). But you can't deny that cat videos rule the internet. There may be more dog videos than cat videos on YouTube, but cat videos get more views and are more likely to go viral.
In 2015, an exhibition called "How Cats Took Over The Internet" opened at the Museum of Moving Images in New York. I would have loved to see that. If you are curious about it, I found [some scenes from the exhibition] (https://medium.com/the-civic-beat/how-cats-took-over-the-internet-db01c6ff0863).
Why do cats rule?
No-one really knows why cats rule the internet, instead of dogs or any other cute fluffy animal.
One theory is that dogs try too hard to impress you and get your approval. Cats do what they do, with zero concern about what you want or think. Their disinterest and independence make us more interested.
Another theory is that cats are harder to read than dogs. So it's easier to project whatever you think is funny onto a cat.
I could have made money
There is a best-selling book on Amazon about how to make money from cat videos. It's called "How to make your cat an internet celebrity: A guide to financial freedom".
I wish I'd known about that before - and bought it. I have a beautiful, loud, demanding Bengal, and I'm sure I could have made my fortune with videos of him. I've used a photo of him attempting to rewire my computer cables for the blog post.
Improve your mental health
Don't feel guilty for watching those cat videos. It's good for your mental health! In 2015, a scientific study found that looking at videos of cats can improve your mood.
A media researcher in the US asked 7,000 people how they felt before and after watching videos of cats. The results? Pople felt happier and less anxious after watching the videos.
(You can read an article about it.)
Changes in technology can be overwhelming and threatening. But it's good to remember that technology can be fun and make us feel happy.
For the dog-lovers
Don't despair: there is a dog-gpt.com as well. But no horse-gpt or rabbit-gpt so far.
I hope you had as much fun reading this as I had writing in. Please share your comments.