Viral 'orange cat' turning into parents' nightmare in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The 'orange cat' that tricks, traps, and kills its fellow creatures has taken social media by storm. However, the same ‘orange cat’ videos, created with artificial intelligence and posted on Instagram, are causing restless days for parents and teachers in Kerala.

The plots of most videos are the same. The shrewd cat invites his best friends to his house for a meal, but ends up poisoning them and later turns them into a sumptuous meal. The artificial intelligence videos, accompanied by perfect songs, help in portraying the devil cat as a hero. The videos are highly popular among children in the state.

"I noticed a child in the class poking others with a pen every day. He would continue to do so until the others cried. Even if I scolded him, he would continue harming the other students. When I called his parents and inquired, they admitted that the child was addicted to the infamous cat videos.” These are the words of a ninth-grade teacher at a private school in Thiruvananthapuram.

Children easily get fixated on such AI videos and will insist on watching them again.

Such videos are watched by crores of people on Instagram. Such videos also create behavioural disorders and excessive anxiety in adults. They can also create a narcissistic nature that rejoices in the pain of others. Most of the videos are released through fake profiles from North India.

Things to be done:

1. Include parental control features in apps including Instagram

2. Do not allow Instagram access to children under the age of 14

3. Parents should inform teachers if spotted even a small change in kid’s behaviour