Busy parents trying to balance day-to-day work and childcare often turn to independent play toys and tablets to complete simple tasks like folding laundry or making dinner.
Many people may search for age-appropriate videos on YouTube to entertain their toddlers in that short amount of time. But a new report has found that seemingly innocuous videos on YouTube that purport to be “educational” pose real dangers to the children who watch them.
The 74 and Mother Jones released a worrying report that found several instances in which AI-generated videos push meaningless content or harmful lessons to young viewers.
In one video, which appears to be a nursery rhyme about cars, children ride without seatbelts and walk in the middle of the road with a moving car behind them. Other sing-along videos about U.S. states have garbled names, such as “Isla Livio,” “Commecticat,” “Ochlorodia,” and “Rugislia,” confusing the intended educational purpose. One video also showed him eating a handful of grapes, which are known to be a choking hazard for infants.
Researchers are sounding the alarm about these unregulated AI-derived products for infants and children.
“I see this as infantile AI misinformation on an industrial scale. It’s extremely dangerous for the developing brain,” said Dr. Dana Susskind, professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago.
Although there are still no hard numbers on the amount of AI-generated videos for children, it is clear that this problem is rapidly increasing. “We’re at the beginning of a monstrous problem, and we need to solve it now,” said Kathy Hirsch-Pasek, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University who studies child development.
Jo Jo Funland, the creator of one of the most controversial car safety videos, has posted over 10,000 videos since its initial release just seven months ago, and averages about 50 new videos every day. By comparison, Sesame Street published just under 4,000 videos on YouTube over 20 years, the report notes.
The decline in cognitive function that accompanies the consumption of “AI slop”, such as shortened attention spans, decreased concentration, and mental fogginess, is known as “brain rot.” But Susskind cautions that if the audience is children, it’s less rotten. What you get instead, she said, is a “brain stunt.” She warns that parents will “miswire their brains in the wrong way” with this type of AI-generated video.
Following this disturbing report, YouTube terminated six channels for violating the platform’s terms of service and one channel for violating its spam policy. As of this writing, the Jo Jo Funland account is disabled.
None of the AI videos referenced in The 74 article were identified through YouTube Kids. YouTube Kids is another version of the platform with carefully selected content for kids from birth to 12 years old. However, a New York Times report identified an AI video on YouTube Kids.
The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked controversy in almost every aspect of life. While AI may have benefits such as predicting extreme weather events and optimizing renewable energy systems, concerns about its negative impact on education, energy costs, and online safety are growing almost as fast as the proliferation of artificial intelligence technologies.
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