Take, for example, another recently solved Internet mystery: the source of the song that became known as “Everyone knows that.” After nearly three years of researching the internet, a pair of Reddit users found the song titled “Ulterior Motives” after hearing a similar song in an adult film clip on YouTube and watching literally hours of porn which was likely written by the songwriters mentioned in this clip.
During the hunt, there was speculation that the song was AI-generated or part of some stunt. If the detectives had been too distracted by it, or if someone had tried to use AI to “solve” the mystery by simply creating a similar song, the two would never have watched all that porn. They probably would have just gotten into dozens of online fights.
Celebrity Number Six and “Everyone Knows That” are both mysteries that, albeit slightly, predate the current generative AI boom, and as such seem to have avoided at least some of the fallout. While both investigations definitely demonstrated the caution necessary when establishing the authenticity of anything online, their narrative arcs illustrate how the internet is now even less trustworthy than it once was. That’s much more true of C6 than “Everyone Knows That,” but it’s hard to imagine any new mysteries that come after them having fewer misunderstandings about what’s real and what’s AI.
When the Times contacted Sarda, she said she was trying to enjoy her newfound fame. (She… now on TikTok.) She said she was glad people were trying so difficult to find her, but she also worried about “how far this could go” and how much it would change her life. There was one thing that seemed to give her comfort, though: “I can always hide.”
Loose threads:
Cat memes become a topic in US elections. Please bear with me as almost all of these threads will be about cats. The first is about the baseless conspiracy that began circulating on social media this week that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are eating cats (and ducks and geese). Ohio State Senator J.D. Vance addressed the conspiracy on Xand the owner of the platform, Elon Musk, published several pictures cats (and ducks) with captions like “Save them!“Texas State Senator Ted Cruz Published a meme-style image macro of a pair of kittens embracing, with the text “Please vote for Trump so Haitian immigrants don’t eat us,” accompanied by three crying-with-laugh emojis. The Republican Party’s House Judiciary Committee account posted an image that appeared to be AI-generated, showing Trump holding a duck and a kitten in what appears to be a lake.
Cat memes appear on debate forum. The cat-eating conspiracy theory gained even more traction Tuesday night when Trump said during a debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, “They eat dogs. They eat cats.” The audio quickly spread on TikTok where it was placed next to pictures of pets. Memes of Alf, the star of the alien sitcom who famously wanted to eat the family cat, also flew away.
Taylor Swift (and her cat) endorse Kamala Harris. Lest you think the cat talk ended there, it didn’t. Moments after the debate ended, Taylor Swift picked up her phone (presumably) and wrote an Instagram post that both condemned AI disinformation and endorsed Kamala Harris. Swift captioned it, “Childless cat lady.” In the photo, she holds a cat. As of this writing, the post has over 10 million likes. Musk apparently responded to Swift’s support, writing on X, “Okay Taylor… you win… I’ll give you a baby and I’ll guard your cats with my life.” Hours later, he added, “Toxoplasma gondii is a threat to our democracy,” essentially saying that parasite which is carried by cats and can cause infections in animals such as mice I’m not afraid of cats—could change the government in America.
Kendrick Lamar shared a recent song on Instagram. After causing quite a stir online by announcing Kendrick Lamar has released a recent song to listen to next year’s Super Bowl halftime show Here.