Cat soap operas and babies trapped in space: the ‘AI slop’ taking over YouTube
Breakthroughs in AI video tools have spurred a flood of surreal “AI slop” on YouTube—nine of July’s 100 fastest-growing channels now run entirely on AI-generated clips. From babies crawling into space rockets to undead football stars and cat soap operas, these low-quality mass productions have amassed millions of subscribers. YouTube has removed some offending channels and blocked their ad revenue, but experts warn the surge of repetitive, inauthentic content threatens to degrade the online experience.