How YouTube Is Fighting Back Against AI Slop
Science fiction and scientific leaders have warned us that artificial intelligence could one day take over the world, but until those predictions come true, the biggest impact of generative AI on my life has been to overload my social media feeds with slop. It seems I can’t open TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube without coming across bizarre and disturbing AI concoctions featuring babies in danger and cats having affairs. It really is the Wild West (or maybe Western world) over there.
I think few of us really believe that these videos are good, and it is obvious that they are not good for us, or for the world. Short-form video is mind-numbing enough, but this AI content is usually completely devoid of meaning or substance. And yet, they are everywhere. I haven’t spent much time on YouTube Shorts recently, but in my limited experience, the feed is full of AI, especially if I’m logged out of my personal account.
Still, if you’re a dedicated YouTube Shorts user (or a frequent YouTube user in general), you may have noticed something strange over the past few days: there don’t seem to be that many AI videos on the platform right now. There is still one plotdon’t get me wrong, but it turns out YouTube has recently taken steps to remove some of its AI content, the sloppiest of slops.
YouTube’s war on AI slop
Android Police spotted this development on Wednesday, basing its findings on a November report from Kapwing, a company that develops an online video editor. Kapwing studied the AI problem across YouTube’s vast content library, noting the 100 most subscribed YouTube channels that post this type of AI content. In the two months since this report, Android Police has noticed that 16 of those 100 channels are no longer available.
This includes the most popular AI channel on YouTube, at least according to Kapwing. “CuentosFacianantes” had 5.95 million subscribers at the time of its initial report and produced AI-generated short films inspired by Dragon Ball. The channel had accumulated around 1.28 billion views as of the end of last year; Despite launching in 2020, its library had been set to begin on January 8, 2025, so these numbers were accumulated fairly recently. The second channel, “Imperio de Jesus”, with 5.87 million subscribers, and the seventh channel “Super Cat League”, with 4.21 million subscribers, were also closed.
According to Android Police, the 16 channels in question had a total of 35 million subscribers and more than 4.7 billion views on their collective videos. Some of these channels disappeared completely, while others simply had their videos removed.
Why does YouTube remove AI errors?
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan published an article on January 21 of this year outlining the company’s vision for 2026. Towards the end of this letter, he acknowledges the content of AI, predicting that “AI will be a boon for creatives ready to take the plunge” and comparing it to tools like Photoshop and CGI, adding “AI will remain a tool for expression, not a replacement.” However, Mohan also criticized the technology, pointing out that it is increasingly difficult to distinguish real videos from AI. It notes that YouTube now removes “any harmful synthetic media that violates our community guidelines” and gives creators tools to help them identify and block deepfakes.
What do you think of it so far?
More interestingly, the letter includes a section titled “Handling AI Errors,” which is the first time I’ve seen a company like YouTube use that phrase. Mohan says YouTube’s goal is to be a place where free speech thrives, but also a place “where people feel good about spending their time.” At this point, he says: “To reduce the distribution of low-quality AI content, we are actively leveraging our established systems that have been very effective in combating spam and clickbait. and reduce the distribution of repetitive and poor quality content“.
Mohan doesn’t name any accounts, nor does he acknowledge the accounts and content the company has already removed, but it’s a clear line in the sand: YouTube isn’t against AI-generated content, but it will remove low-quality AI content that appears to be, well, sloppy. This is good news for everyone who uses YouTube (so almost everyone), although it’s far from a cure for the growing problem.
I have contacted YouTube for comment on this story and will update this article if I hear back.
