Low-quality AI content is massively appearing on YouTube and is already bringing channel owners about $117 million a year. A study by Kapwing covered 15,000 of the platform’s most popular channels worldwide and showed that 278 of them consist entirely of such material. Researchers emphasize that over 20% of the videos YouTube offers to new users are created using AI and belong to the “AI slop” category – videos created to gather views without original content.
Even if a user has just registered, YouTube’s algorithms immediately show them every fifth short video generated by a machine. These are short clips that quickly fill feeds, attract attention, and actively gather views. Such content has quickly become a profitable business, firmly established in the platform’s daily output.
Researchers note that “AI slop” often lacks uniqueness or value but gathers millions of views thanks to algorithms. Viewers continue to watch such videos, which encourages the emergence of even more similar materials. The technology is only gaining momentum, and the number of such videos is rapidly increasing.
