More than 20% of videos shown to new YouTube users are 'AI slop', study finds

[marmar]

(Guardian) More than 20% of the videos that YouTube’s algorithm shows to new users are “AI slop” – low-quality AI-generated content designed to farm views, research has found.

The video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the world’s most popular YouTube channels – the top 100 in every country – and found that 278 of them contain only AI slop.

Together, these AI slop channels have amassed more than 63bn views and 221 million subscribers, generating about $117m (£90m) in revenue each year, according to estimates.

The researchers also made a new YouTube account and found that 104 of the first 500 videos recommended to its feed were AI slop. One-third of the 500 videos were “brainrot”, a category that includes AI slop and other low-quality content made to monetise attention. ...................(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/dec/27/more-than-20-of-videos-shown-to-new-youtube-users-are-ai-slop-study-finds

[tanyev]

1. And I get tremendous satisfaction from selecting "Don't Recommend Channel" on every one.

[hunter]

4. That eventually makes them go away on your personal YouTube home page...

... which leads me to believe that YouTube knows it is pushing AI slop and could reduce the amount they promote if they chose to do so.

Instead they are chasing the short term profit and ignoring the long term damage it will do to their own credibility and society in general.

It's also possible we are on the path to Idiocracy where advertisers are actively seeking out the most gullible and easily fleeced internet audience they can find -- those people who will buy any sort of snake oil.

[SheltieLover]

2. Kick

[Bluetus]

3. Some people might have been facetious when suggesting,

"the Internet will soon be little more than robots generating artificial content consumed by a user base that is mostly other robots."

We are definitely headed that direction. And considering that robots don't buy anything, advertisers really must adjust their concept of the marketplace.

Personally, I spend almost no time on TV because the slop factor has been so high there for the past decade. I would watch sports, but most of what I might watch is now on one of 100 streaming services, each one requiring a subscription. No, thanks. The games aren't that great anyway. I spend more time listening to podcasts. They are all over the map, but I have found some that are quite interesting, informative and educational.

[NJCher]

5. two podcasts on youtube

where they are imitating a lawyer and a journalist started up about 10-12 days ago. I have watched them gain steam and they are getting new signups like crazy, meanwhile delivering lies about how trump is going down. Who wouldn't want to hear that? No wonder they are gaining viewers.

I watch the comments, too. A few people recognize it as AI and say so, but not enough.