We spend so much time debating whether artificial intelligence is making our world less human that we sometimes forget to treat each other like human beings ourselves.

Sarper Duman is a good person, a true friend to the cat community, and he does not deserve the criticism he is facing.

Back in 2017, Sarper was already caring for 9 rescued street cats in Istanbul. By 2019, that number had grown to 19, and he started to really gain some meowmentum with his online presence. He went viral for videos of his cats curled up beside him while he played the piano, or playing with him. Soon enough, millions of people were invested in his feline family. It was so heartwarming to watch from afar! Finally, a good thing is happening to a good purrson. It felt right.

Fast forward to today, and things have taken a heartbreaking turn. After losing his beloved cat Reşat, Sarper shared an AI-generated music video. Besotted with grief, he did not have the finances or mental strength to produce a real music video, so he generated something in order to save money and hopefully raise more money for the remaining cats under his care. The response was nothing like what he hoped for.

While still grieving Reşat passing over the rainbow bridge, he faced a wave of harsh criticism over his decision to use AI. In one post. After thousands of posts over nearly 10 years that were based on making the world a better place. On September 13th, he announced that he was stepping away from Instagram. And honestly, I think this deserves a much bigger conversation.

I understand why people are concerned about AI - artists worry about their work being used without purrmission, people worry about authenticity, jobs, and the environmental costs of generating endless content. These are legitimate concerns that deserve serious discussion, but when did criticizing a technology become an excuse to forget the human behind the screen?