15 thousand were analyzed. most popular channels on YouTube – 100 from each country. It found that 278 of them only publish mass-produced, value-free AI content. Together These channels have accumulated over 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers, generating, according to estimates, approximately USD 117 million. annual revenues.
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Every fifth video offered to new YouTube users is a product of artificial intelligence
The researchers also checked what YouTube's algorithm suggests to a new user. Of the first 500 recommended films, as many as 104 were classified as “AI slop”i.e. materials of low quality, lack of depth and repeatability. Every third material belonged to the broader category of “brainrot” – content designed to monetize the recipient's attention as much as possible, without any substantive significance.
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This phenomenon is not marginal. As “The Guardian” emphasizes, pointing to previous analyses, almost 10 percent the fastest growing channels on YouTube today are based on such materials. AI channels have a global reach, despite the platform's declared actions against inauthentic content. In Spain, almost half of the population observes them (over 20 million), while in the USA approximately 14.5 million people observe them.
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The most popular channel in the study, Bandar Apna Dost from India, garnered 2.4 billion views. It presents absurd stories involving a humanoid monkey and a muscular hero fighting demons. According to experts, the success of such content is due to its simplicity, lack of plot and easy digestibility, also for children.
Other channels direct their message directly to children, using cartoon motifs or bright colors. There are also those based on disasters and emotions, e.g. AI-generated flood or destruction scenes.
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AI on YouTube. Experts comment
Experts cited by the British daily emphasize that it is not creativity, but algorithms that determine the success of video materials. As they note, social media platforms have become giant machines testing users' attention – and the so-called AI slop fits perfectly into their operating logic.
YouTube assures that generative AI is only a tool, and the platform focuses on promoting high-quality content and removes materials that violate the regulations.
“Generative AI is a tool like any other and can be used to create both high- and low-quality content. We remain focused on providing our users with access to high-quality content, regardless of how it was created,” a YouTube representative commented to The Guardian.
