AI has created a new breed of cat video: addictive, disturbing and nauseatingly quick soap operas

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

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At the (tail) 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. She knows, they realised! This is because Eilish's Oscar-winning track What Was I Made For? - a lachrymose Barbie cut lamenting adulthood's entailing ennui - has become the default soundtrack for a new breed of cat video.

You may recognise it: the song often plays over the top of these AI-generated fantasias featuring a cartoonishly fat cat or an equally buff feline with a suspiciously veiny human body. The cat cheats on her lover, falls pregnant or seeks revenge in a weirdly condensed soap opera. And like all soap operas, these videos are extremely addictive.