this post was submitted on 16 Mar 2024
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Im not a fan of AI content, but I wanna do a bit better than just old man yells at new thing. If the AI content was indistinguishable from human made there wouldnt be any outrage, how would we know? AI is distinguishable, and I think the main distinction is the lack of human goals in creating the content. AI is computer, it doesnt feel joy for creating, it doesnt have fun, it isnt trying to express itself, just mimicing expressions.
So Im watching some of these AI videos, and comparing to kids shows from before AI was a thing. It's a lot of shared elements, and any given few seconds from the AI videos seems normal. But watching it scene to scene is bizarre. It's really bad about continuity, and there's no story whatsoever or any worldbuilding. Which you might not associate with kids shows, but they were present, just simplified along with everything else. Shows like Dora and Blues Clues had overarching quests for the characters every episode, a continuity of events to follow, and recurring elements to remember in the next episode. These are all good learning elements for developing brains I feel, Swiper shows up and that's activating memories, he's an obstacle to this continuity and needs dealing with, and how to deal with it was explained last time. The AI content Im seeing has none of this
Thats a very old generation of kids show, and they were somewhat educational.
Go back 2-3 years ago and watch the sort of mindless droll on YT, its human made but pure mindrot - zero plot, just sound effects, oddly paced scenes, bright catchy visuals, pop culture characters etc. This AI stuff cannot do any worse as we’d already turned children’s media into addictive algorithmic manipulation.
Im pretty sure all of that was AI too, at least algorithmic in some way. Like plugging in google trends as some twisted madlibs or something. That shit definitely wasn't human either.
There are still plenty new children's media options that aren't hot garbage. Bluey, Miraculous Ladybug, and Spidey and his Amazing Friends are 3 of my son's favorites, and all three have story arcs, characters with a bit of depth and moral fiber, and are in active production. There's also all the PBS Kids content that values learning and modeling emotional regulation, hell even Nickelodeon has Blaze and the Monster Machine teaching kids about basic engineering concepts.
YouTube has been poison for children for over a decade, but it's gotten progressively worse. I hesitate to judge others' parenting, but when someone sets their 4 year old in front of an iPad with unrestricted YouTube access, it really lets you know what kind of parent they are