How YouTube Is Combating Bad AI
Science fiction and leading scientists have both warned us that artificial intelligence might one day take over the world, but until those predictions come true, generative AI’s biggest impact on my life is that it overloads my social media feeds with nonsense. I can’t seem to open TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube without stumbling upon strange and disturbing AI creations featuring babies in danger and cats cheating on their partners. It truly is the Wild West (or maybe Westworld ).
I think few of us truly believe in the value of these videos, and it’s clear they’re harmful to us and the world. Short videos are boring enough, but this AI-generated content is typically completely devoid of meaning and substance. And yet, it’s everywhere. I haven’t spent much time on YouTube Shorts lately, but from my limited experience, my feed is overflowing with AI-generated content, especially when I’m not logged into my personal account.
However, if you’re a dedicated YouTube Shorts user (or just a frequent YouTube user), you might have noticed something strange in recent days: there seem to be fewer AI-powered videos on the platform. Of course, there are still plenty of them, don’t get me wrong, but as it turns out, YouTube has recently taken steps to remove some AI-powered content—the worst of it.
YouTube’s war against low-quality AI-generated content.
On Wednesday, Android Police highlighted this issue , based on a November report from Kapwing , a developer of an online video editor. Kapwing investigated the use of artificial intelligence across YouTube’s vast content library, identifying the 100 most popular YouTube channels publishing such content. In the two months since the report’s publication, Android Police has noted that 16 of these 100 channels no longer exist.
This includes the most popular AI-generated YouTube channel, at least according to Kapwing data. The channel “CuentosFacianantes” had 5.95 million subscribers at the time of the initial report, producing short AI-generated videos inspired by Dragon Ball . By the end of last year, the channel had accumulated approximately 1.28 billion views; although it launched in 2020, its content library was built to begin growing on January 8, 2025, so these figures were only recently reached. The number two channel, “Imperio de Jesus” with 5.87 million subscribers, and the number seven channel, “Super Cat League” with 4.21 million subscribers, have also been shut down.
According to Android Police, the 16 channels in question had a combined 35 million subscribers and over 4.7 billion video views. Some of these channels have been completely deleted, while others have simply had their videos removed.
Why is YouTube removing unwanted AI-generated content?
On January 21st of this year, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan published a post outlining the company’s vision for 2026. At the end of the post, he acknowledged the existence of AI-generated content, predicting that “AI will be a boon for creatives willing to actively use it,” and comparing it to tools like Photoshop and CGI, adding, “AI will remain a tool for self-expression, not a replacement.” However, Mohan was also critical of the technology, noting that it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish real videos from those created by AI. He noted that YouTube now removes “any harmful synthetic content that violates our Community Guidelines” and provides creators with tools to identify and block deepfakes.
What’s even more interesting is that the letter includes a section titled “Combating Low-Quality AI-Generated Content,” and this is the first time I’ve seen a company like YouTube use this term. Mohan says YouTube’s goal is to be a place where freedom of expression thrives and a place “where people have a good time.” To this end, he says, “To reduce the spread of low-quality AI-generated content, we are actively developing our existing systems, which are very successful in combating spam and clickbait, and in reducing the spread of low-quality, repetitive content .”
Mohan doesn’t name specific accounts or acknowledge which accounts and content the company has already removed, but it’s a clear distinction: YouTube isn’t opposed to AI-generated content, but it will remove low-quality AI-generated content, which it considers, to put it mildly, shoddy. This is good news for all YouTube users (which is to say, almost everyone), though it’s far from a panacea for the growing problem.
I’ve reached out to YouTube for comment on this story and will update this article if I hear back.