Study Exposes YouTube's 'AI Slop' Crisis: 20% of New User Videos are Low-Quality AI

• A new study by Kapwing reveals over 20% of videos shown to new YouTube users are "AI slop" – low-quality, AI-generated content.
• The study surveyed 15,000 popular YouTube channels, finding 278 channels exclusively feature AI slop, amassing over 63 billion views and 221 million subscribers.
• These AI slop channels are estimated to generate about $117 million (£90 million) in annual revenue.
• Researchers created a new YouTube account and found 104 out of 500 recommended videos were AI slop, with one-third being "brainrot" content.
• The "AI slop" industry is rapidly expanding globally, saturating platforms like X, Meta, and YouTube, with millions of followers in countries like Spain, Egypt, US, and Brazil.

Why It Matters: Low-quality AI-generated "slop" content significantly infiltrates YouTube, impacting new users and generating vast revenue.