Khaberni - A recent study revealed a gap in the quality of content suggested by the "YouTube" system, indicating that more than 20% of the videos shown to new users are "automatically generated poor content". The study clarified that this type of content is of low quality, primarily aimed at manipulating algorithms to achieve high views at the expense of educational or artistic value.
The study, conducted by Kapwing specializing in video editing, involved analyzing 15,000 channels from the most popular YouTube channels globally, the top 100 channels in each country. The results concluded that 278 channels fully rely on this type of artificially manufactured content.
According to estimates, the total views of these channels exceeded 63 billion views, with more than 221 million subscribers, generating annual revenues estimated at about 117 million dollars.
Misleading content at the forefront of suggestions
To simulate a new user's experience, researchers created a new YouTube account, finding that 104 of the first 500 suggested videos on the homepage were of poor AI-generated content, while a third of these videos were categorized as "misleading," including low-quality content primarily aiming to generate profit by attracting attention.
These results highlight a rapidly growing digital industry, now dominating major social media platforms, from X to Meta and reaching YouTube, establishing a new pattern of content: devoid of context, easy to spread, and transboundary.
An investigation by The Guardian earlier this year revealed that about 10% of YouTube's fastest-growing channels are fake channels relying on artificial intelligence, despite the platform's attempts to limit non-authentic content.
Global spread and millions of followers
The channels detected by Kapwing are distributed around the world, with huge audiences; in Spain, about 20 million people follow trendy AI channels, nearly half the population. The number of followers amounts to 18 million in Egypt, 14.5 million in the United States, and 13.5 million in Brazil.
Bandar Apna Dost channel, based in India, topped the list of most viewed channels in the study, with a total of 2.4 billion views. The program features the adventures of a modeled monkey and a superhero inspired by "Hulk," in absurd scenarios that include fighting demons and flying with a helicopter made from tomatoes. Kapwing estimated the channel's earnings at about 4.25 million dollars.
In the same context, the program Booty Frenchy from Singapore, apparently aimed at children, garnered about two billion views through adventures of a bulldog in fantasy worlds, while the American channel Cuentos Fascinantes topped the list of the most subscribed channels in the study with 6.65 million subscribers.
Disasters manufactured for profit
In contrast, The AI World from Pakistan showcases short videos depicting disasters and floods generated by artificial intelligence, accompanied by emotional headlines and calm music, and it alone accumulated 1.3 billion views.
Despite the difficulties in determining the actual size of this type of content, due to the absence of official data from YouTube, these odd clips reveal an almost organized industry aiming to exploit algorithms for profit with artificial intelligence tools.
An industry led by algorithms
Journalist Max Reid, specializing in this field, mentioned that the producers of these videos are active across groups on Telegram, WhatsApp, and Discord, exchanging strategies for achieving widespread visibility, and even sell training courses on creating trendy content.
He pointed out that many of these producers come from middle-income countries such as India, Ukraine, Nigeria, Kenya, and Brazil, where YouTube earnings represent an attractive source of income compared to local wages.
YouTube's response
On its behalf, a YouTube spokesperson stated that generative artificial intelligence is just a tool that can be used to produce high or low-quality content, emphasizing that the platform focuses on connecting users with good content regardless of the production method, with strict adherence to community guidelines and policies.
