YouTube Shorts AI Slop Study 2025: 1 in 5 Videos Are Low-Quality AI Junk

One in every five videos. That's the amount of AI slop the YouTube Shorts algorithm serves to new users. A fresh study from video-editing firm Kapwing, recently reported by the Guardian, confirms that our feeds aren't just getting weirder—they're getting lazier.

YouTube Shorts AI Slop Study: Breaking Down the Feed

The numbers are staggering. Out of the first 500 videos shown to brand-new accounts, 104 were identified as AI-generated slop, while 165 fell into the category of brainrot. Respectively, that's 21 percent and 33 percent of the initial user experience. Instead of high-quality human creators, the algorithm is leading with automated noise.

The Global Reach of Automated Content

The appetite for this content varies by border. Spain leads the pack with a combined 20.22 million subscribers across slop channels. The U.S. isn't far behind, ranking third with 14.47 million subscribers and hosting nine slop-focused channels among its top 100. From fake surveillance footage of mythical animals to bizarre machinery clips, these videos are successfully hijacking human attention on a massive scale.