Gardai Say Cat In The Hat Photos In Wexford Are AI Generated

Wexford Gardai say images reportedly showing a man dressed in a Cat in the Hat costume in Wexford are fake.

Videos and pictures of the Dr Suess character have appeared online in recent days appearing to show the man in various locations late at night.

Local officials say they have checked out the images and discovered they were AI generated.

Wexford Gardai say "to be clear, the Cat in the Hat was not in your driveway while you were out and he is not currently hiding out in Curracloe.."

They also included the hashtags #KeepingPeopleSafe and #CatsOutOfTheBag.

The issue was first raised by a Reddit user on the r/Wexford page with a post stating "Anyone see these pictures of the fella dressed as the cat in the hat stalking around Wexford town. Are these real? Have we any more sightings?"

Some posters commented on the creepy nature of the pictures which appear to be designed to scare and frighten people who go out at night.

Various TikTok users then posted videos allegedly showing the costumed man in different locations around the county.

Tech experts say the best way to spot if an image is AI is to focus on the details, be wary of perfection and use Reverse Image Search to check if the photo has appeared anywhere else before.

That report was funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.