More than 20% of videos on Youtube are 'AI slop', study reveals
Video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the most popular YouTube channels, the top 100 in every country, and discovered 278 of them exclusively use AI-generated content
More than 20 per cent of the videos shown to users on YouTube are "AI slop" - low-quality artificially created videos designed to cultivate views.
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Video-editing company Kapwing surveyed 15,000 of the most popular YouTube channels, the top 100 in every country, and discovered 278 of them exclusively use AI-generated content.
These channels have garnered more than 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers, making about £90 million in revenue each year, the study estimates.
The researchers also created a new YouTube account and found that 104 of the first 500 videos shown to it were "AI slop".
The channels found by Kapwing are globally watched.
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In Spain, 20 million people, or nearly half the country’s population, follow the trending AI channels.
AI channels have 18 million followers in Egypt, 14.5 million in the US, and 13.5 million in Brazil.
Pouty Frenchie, a channel based in Singapore, has 2 billion views and chronicles the adventures of a French bulldog, which includes driving to a candy forest, eating crystal sushi.
Many of the videos are set to a soundtrack of children’s laughter. The channel description reads: "Here, AI brings you the funniest moments of our furry friends."
Kapwing estimates it makes the equivalent of nearly £3 million a year.
"There are these big swathes of people on Telegram, WhatsApp, Discord and message boards exchanging tips and ideas [and] selling courses about how to sort of make slop that will be engaging enough to earn money," said Max Read, a journalist covering AI, told the Guardian.
"They have what they call niches. One that I noticed recently is AI videos of people’s pressure cookers exploding on the stove."
A YouTube spokesperson told the Guardian: "Generative AI is a tool, and like any tool it can be used to make both high and low-quality content.
"We remain focused on connecting our users with high-quality content, regardless of how it was made. All content uploaded to YouTube must comply with our community guidelines, and if we find that content violates a policy, we remove it."
LBC has contacted YouTube for comment.