AI Cat Narrator: Designing an AI Tool for Exploring the Shared World and Social Connection with a Cat

Abstract: As technology continues to advance, the interaction between humans and cats is becoming more diverse. Our research introduces a new tool called the AI Cat Narrator, which offers a unique perspective on the shared lives of humans and cats. We combined the method of ethnography with fictional storytelling, using a defamiliarization strategy to merge real-world data seen through the eyes of cats with excerpts from cat literature. This combination serves as the foundation for a database to instruct the AI Cat Narrator in crafting alternative narrative. Our findings indicate that using defamiliarized data for training purposes significantly contributes to the development of characters that are both more empathetic and individualized. The contributions of our study are twofold: 1) proposing an innovative approach to prompting a reevaluation of living alongside cats; 2) establishing a collaborative, exploratory tool developed by humans, cats, and AI together.