Cat Bringing You Dead Animals as Gifts? Artificial Intelligence Will B

Published A Few Days Ago
ADVERTISEMENT

The use of artificial intelligence in the pet industry is slowly but surely gaining more ground: this AI-powered cat flap just proves it.

If you have a cat that’s free to go outdoors as he or she pleases, you’ve probably got a few gifts in return. And by gifts, I mean dead (or almost dead) critters your kitty has hunted down for you and oh so helpfully put right on your bed so you could find them once you wake up. It’s disturbing and disgusting, but hey- studies show that that means your cat considers you their family member, albeit an incompetent one. While the gory gift is a kind gesture in your cat’s eyes, it doesn’t mean you have to like it though.

Ben Hamm certainly didn’t like his cat, Metric, bringing his prey inside the house. That’s why he developed an AI-powered cat flap that blocked the thoughtful kitty whenever he tried to enter the house with a critter stuck between his jaws. He installed an Amazon Deeplink camera above the cat door and trained the artificial intelligence with pictures of his cats with and without dead animals in tow. The algorithm is based on 3 steps: checking if the cat is going in or out, checking to see if the cat is in the frame, and lastly, checking to see if there are any critters in his mouth. Hamm had to feed over 23,000 images to the AI for it to start detecting his pet trying to sneak in dead animals.

Once the artificial intelligence was able to discern his kitty ‘coming in for a snack vs coming in with a snack’, the rest was easy. He programmed the kitty flap to stay locked for 15 minutes once the gory gift was detected, send him a picture of the deed (just in case) and automatically donate a small sum to Audubon Society, a bird organization. (Metric seems to prefer bird prey.) In the case Metric was coming empty-mouthed, he could enter normally.

Needless to say, many cat pawrents would be thrilled about having this type of AI-powered pet door at their disposal, but this is still far from being a publicly available product. Until it hits the pet store shelves, though, my advice is just to have an indoors-only cat. The nastiest thing my indoors-only cats have gifted me with is hairball vomit- and I’d take vomit over a dead animal every time.

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

You May Like

Can I Put Vaseline on My Dog?

Does your dog have dry or irritated skin? You may be wondering, can I put Vaseline on my dog? Read on to learn if it''s safe for your pooch.
Teaching Your Puppy To Walk On A Leash

Whoa there puppy! Before we can go for a walk, you need to learn to walk on a leash. Unless you’re lucky enough to live on hundreds of acres of secure,…
Black Mouth Cur

If you are looking for a rugged, strongly muscled working dog then look no further than the Black Mouth Cur. These dogs can be trained for a variety of uses
Czechoslovakian Vlcak

The Czechoslovakian Vlcak or Czech Wolf Dog is a new breed of dog first bred as a military attack dog. It looks more like a wolf than it does a dog.
Adoptable Dog of the Week – Walnut

You''ll go nuts for Walnut, our Adoptable Dog of the Week. Walnut is a young male Pitbull mix from Sunnyvale, California.
Texas Heeler

An excellent watch and herding dog, the Texas Heeler is a hybrid breed resulting from the crossing an Australian Cattle Dog and Australian Shepherd Dog.
How to Teach Your Dog to Speak

One of the cutest, and easiest, tricks to teach your dog is to speak (or woof) on command. We''ve broken down the steps for you to follow.
Can Cats Eat Apples?

A crisp, sweet treat, chowing down on an apple is a nutritious way to satisfy your hunger. But can cats eat apples?
Fighting Like Cats And Dogs: Dealing With A Cat-Aggressive Dog

Why can''t they just get along? What to do when your dog doesn’t see eye-to-eye with catsIf you have a multi-pet household, there may be times when your pets…
Best Plush Dog Toys

Plush dog toys are a favorite of many pooches- they can be fetched, cuddled with, or used to engage your pet''s innate hunting drive.
Tangs

Tangs are a highly popular species of saltwater aquarium fish. They are characterized by their laterally compressed bodies and scalpel-like spines.
Miniature Bulldog

Miniature Bulldog usually refers to a hybrid mix of a purebred Bulldog with a purebred Pug, but can also be a purebred Bulldogs bred down for size.
Top 10 Irish Dog Breeds

Happy St. Patty''s Day! In honor of everybody''s fave day to wear green and don their ""Kiss Me I''m Irish"" button, we''re sharing our Top 10 Irish dog breeds.
Cocker Spaniel

In this brief guide, we''ll take a look at the Cocker Spaniel and address how it became a breed synonymous with ""quality dog.""
FDA Sends Warning Letter To Purina, Citing Significant Violations At F

Nestle Purina starts 2015 off on the wrong foot – with a warning letter from the FDA What a way to start off the year! Nestle Purina PetCare recently l…