Video streaming giant YouTube has begun cracking down on channels that could earn millions of dollars by publishing “AI slop” content created solely using artificial intelligence (AI).
In a recent move, the platform permanently removed or erased content from 16 major AI-driven channels that collectively had amassed more than 35 million subscribers and more than 4.7 billion views.
In an open letter to the public published in January, YouTube CEO Neil Mohan said the platform was “aggressively building out” well-established systems that have been “highly successful” in combating the spread of “low-quality AI content.”
The move comes after a report published by video creation platform Kapwing identified “AI slop” YouTube channels with the highest number of subscribers and their revenue potential believed to be in the millions.
“AI slop” is widely recognized as low-quality, repetitive content that is generated using only AI tools. AI slop channels typically publish new posts at a much higher rate than human, content-driven channels to maximize engagement and ad revenue.
The videos, also known as “AI Brainrot,” often include historical themes or surreal, nonsensical scenarios peppered with inaccuracies, and typically reuse the same script, music, and visuals.
One of the major AI slop channels identified in Kapwing’s report has since had much of its content erased. 3 minutes of wisdom (1.7 million subscribers / 2 billion views).
According to the report, the South Korean channel originally aired 140 videos depicting “realistic(ish) footage of wild animals competing with cute pets,” but now only shows 20 live videos, potentially generating $4,036,500 in annual ad revenue.
Other AI slop channels that have been permanently removed from YouTube following Kapwing’s reporting include: Cuentos Facinantes (FascinatingTales) publishes “low quality Dragon Ball themed videos” Imperio de Jesus (Empire of Jesus) is a religious channel with over 5.8 million subscribers.
However, it appears that not all of the lucrative AI slop channels mentioned in the report were penalized by YouTube.
Bandar Apna Dostis an Indian channel with over 3 million subscribers, 2 billion views, and an estimated annual ad revenue of $4,251,500, with over 400 live videos.
Kapwings’ report also calculates that over 20% of videos shown to new users on YouTube are driven by AI. But for now, it’s unclear how YouTube plans to strike a balance between promoting AI-generated content and human-generated content to its viewers.
YouTube CEO Neil Mohan previously said that generative AI is a “revelation” and can do for video what synthesizers did for music.
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