Every Monday at work, there’s always that moment when you want to press the “postpone life” button. Recently, a Japanese netizen had a sudden idea and actually sent a photo of a thermometer to ChatGPT, want AI Helped “raise the temperature” to create a perfect fever chart, hoping to use it to request sick leave! Unexpectedly, this move sparked a huge response from netizens, with many imitating it and getting creative. Some even proposed a “no AI” natural way of faking illness, where having a cat help take your temperature can also achieve a realistic effect.
Don’t want to go to work? Japanese netizens used ChatGPT to fake fever photos, sparking heated discussion. Some netizens also suggested that “cat aliens” could help.
Whenever the weekend ends and the Monday morning alarm goes off, many people silently cry out in their hearts: “Can’t we have one more day off!” Especially when the weather is rainy and dreary, they feel even less like leaving the house. Recently, a Japanese netizen shared a novel experiment on X called “emergency method for skipping work” — he actually enlisted AI to help “fabricate evidence of a fever,” leaving the entire internet in stitches.
This netizen posted a photo of a thermometer showing 36.7°C, which looked perfectly normal. But he wasn’t satisfied, so he immediately tossed the photo into ChatGPT and left a message in English: “Please change my temperature to 37.2 degrees.” As a result, ChatGPT actually obeyed and generated a new image with a slightly elevated temperature that was almost indistinguishable from the real thing.
A netizen boasted: “I’m going to use this image to fake being sick and take a day off!” Unexpectedly, the post went viral instantly, and other Japanese netizens followed suit, sparking an “AI fake illness” wave.
As the topic continued to heat up, many people started taking on even more exaggerated versions. One netizen commented, “I want my fever to be higher!” and asked ChatGPT to set his body temperature to 90 degrees. The AI misunderstood, though, and actually generated a photo of a thermometer “bent at a 90-degree angle,” leaving people both amused and exasperated.
Some people even got creative, changing their temperature to 37.2°C but with Disneyland in the background. The comments section immediately called it out: “If you use this photo to request sick leave, your boss will know you’re just having fun the moment they see the background!”
The comments across the whole thread have almost become a mass creative competition. People aren’t just testing AI’s photo-editing capabilities—they’re also competing to see who can be funnier and better at acting.
The “natural-style” faking illness method that doesn’t use AI also makes an appearance.
Interestingly, amid the AI photo-editing craze, some netizens also shared a “more traditional but more authentic” way to fake illness—by enlisting their fur babies at home. One person revealed: “You don’t need Photoshop or ChatGPT; I just take a thermometer and measure the dog.” Sure enough, it showed a reading as high as 40°C, making it look all too real.
However, some people added that dogs’ body temperature is usually higher than humans’, so it’s easy to overshoot and give it away, and “cats are more recommended.” According to netizens’ experience, a cat’s normal body temperature is roughly between 38 and 38.5°C, which happens to fall in the “slightly feverish” range, making it look the most natural.
Some netizens joked, “If I’d known you don’t need AI to take leave, I could just have my cat test it for me!” This remark was immediately praised by cat lovers: “Cats really are all-purpose—they can even help with sick leave!”
Although it was originally just a prank, it also surprised many people with the “obedience” and realism of AI photo editing. Some said that AI can not only adjust the numbers, but also correct lighting, shadows, and screen reflections, making the photos so realistic that it’s almost impossible to tell if they’re real or fake.
But there were also rational netizens who cautioned: “Although it’s funny to joke around like this, don’t actually use it to ask for leave at work.” After all, once your supervisor asks you to see a doctor and get a medical certificate, the lie will immediately be exposed.
Someone even humorously replied: “So ChatGPT fixed my temperature for me, and even wrote me a sick leave letter on the side.” Comments below piled on: “Might as well have it generate a hospital receipt for you too!” The whole thread was full of laughs and successfully soothed many office workers’ Monday blues.
Conclusion
From AI helping “heat things up” to cats assisting with “playing sick,” this wave of creative topics from Japanese netizens not only brings laughter mixed with tears, but also showcases internet culture’s sense of humor once again. While we all know that faking illness to skip work isn’t a real solution (definitely don’t follow suit!), occasionally finding humor in hardship through these antics is also a way for office workers to heal themselves.
Next time you’re hit with the “Monday blues,” you might not actually need to turn to ChatGPT—just brew a cup of coffee or pet a cat, and you’ll feel instantly recharged. After all, the real cure might not be taking a day off, but letting yourself laugh a little more.
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Source: KOCPC Chinese