[lwswl]

Can watching cat videos be turned into productive intellectual activity?

The answer to my question is yes, however, I don't quite know the answer to yours, as enjoyment is somewhat subjective.

However, watching cat videos creates data(and also uses the intellect, i.e., to identify cats, and make some sort of vague judgement), and that data could potentially be leveraged to make algorithms, which makes it a potentially productive activity.

As for what algorithms? Well, algorithms that find out which videos people are more likely to watch, so they can watch even more cat videos.

You are correct, it is an opportunity, and one already leveraged, by the same people who caused the problem.