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It gave them an unsettling “feline.”
A sinister trend involving AI footage of Dr. Seuss’ most iconic character is sparking school safety concerns and even leading to arrests of students responsible for the prank’s proliferation.
The trend involves AI-generated depictions of someone dressed as the Cat In The Hat, the dapper, hat-wearing feline agent of chaos from the 1957 Dr. Seuss classic of the same name.
While the book version’s mayhem amounts to wrecking the protagonists’ home while the parents are away, the TikTok iteration — based on the 2003 live-action flop starring Mike Meyers — is seen slinking down an alleyway while making threatening statements aimed at certain schools or communities, Fox News reported.
Some versions had even been doctored to make it appear as if this virtual mad cat-ter is prowling about near their school or neighborhood.
In response, law enforcement agencies from Georgia to Virginia are warning the public about this frightening trend, which has reportedly led to arrests of ten juveniles nationwide.
The Hanover County Sheriff’s Office in Virginia posted a Facebook PSA warning the community about “a concerning social media account and post referencing Mechanicsville High School and the ‘Cat in the Hat’ trend.”
“We understand that this content is being shared throughout our community and may understandably cause concern among students, parents, staff, and families,” they wrote. “Our investigators are actively working to identify the individual responsible for the account and determine the circumstances surrounding the post.”
They also cautioned that there would be an increased police presence at Mechanicsville High School amid the ongoing investigation.
In late August, school administrators closed Assumption High School in Louisville, Kentucky, in response to one of the clips, USA Today reported.
The Louisville Metro Police Department said that while there was “no credible threat associated with these posts,” they stressed that they take “any reports involving school safety seriously.”
“Our Homeland Security Unit is actively reviewing information related to these incidents, working with school administrators, and investigating the origin of any posts that may be causing alarm,” the department pledged.
Many also urged parents to instruct their children on responsible social media use and discourage them from disseminating similar content online.
Unfortunately, many tech experts believe that this style of content will only snowball as the technology gets more advanced.
“We shouldn’t be surprised that a simplistic, generative image is causing this kind of disruption, because this is just, in my opinion, the tip of the iceberg,” said Jason Rothermund, a retired Kentucky police sergeant who now owns a business that helps companies become versed in AI, WKYT reported.
Rothermund predicts that police agencies will develop dedicated AI investigation roles as the tech becomes more ubiquitous and harder to distinguish from real life.
