AI 'slop' could cause cognitive decline and violent tendencies among kids, study says

AI 'slop', especially AI-generated animated fruit videos, could contribute to significant cognitive decline and violent tendencies among kids, according to new research.

The analysis, by the Global Network on Extremism and Technology (GNET), found that AI-generated animated fruit videos, which are currently rampant on children’s feeds worldwide, could be a way of secretly propagating "violent and extremist content".

AI 'slop' specifically refers to mass-produced, highly repetitive and low-quality AI-generated content, which typically have little to no human touch. These usually prioritise only views, clicks, engagement and advertising revenue, and are produced very cheaply.

As such, one creator could potentially produce hundreds of these short-form videos, flooding multiple platforms with massive amounts of content. With many social media platforms rewarding constant activity and uploads, this strategy can be highly effective in reaching millions of children across the world.

This could contribute to cognitive decline or "brain rot" which refers to the cultural and psychological effects of consuming too much fast, overstimulating, intentionally meaningless media, which is often absurd and capitalises on habits like endless scrolling and chasing instant dopamine hits.

The rise of cheap, easy to learn and highly convenient apps like PixVerse, VeoE.ai , Media.io and Sora have also contributed to the sharp surge in this type of AI-generated content in recent years.

How AI 'slop' contributes to online radicalisation

AI 'slop' can covertly spread online radicalising content through videos that initially seem harmless, absurd or even funny, such as animated fruit-and-vegetable videos.

This type of content often has dramatic narratives involving romance, domestic conflict, betrayal and cheating, among other story arcs portrayed by seemingly innocent animated fruits. They can portray significant aggression and emotional violence and can also be highly overstimulating to impressionable minds through their storytelling patterns.

In many cases, these videos are also used to glorify, celebrate and spread violent extremism and terrorist attacks, through catchy videos piggybacking on viral online trends and topics.

AI fruit-and-vegetable gore can often feature torture, extreme mutilation and hyper-realistic violence, which can considerably desensitise audiences by hiding behind the familiarity of these animated characters.

They may also show assassinations, mass casualty events and brutal murders, for example, one fruit assassinating another with a weapon.

In many cases, videos also share similar qualities to extremist organisations promoting extreme-right, nihilistic or violent ideology, as well as criminal cartels.

For example, a popular character, Carrot Khalifah, is often shown telling an army in a video that "the Carrot State will rise again", which echoes known Islamic State (IS) ideology and propaganda.

While platforms like TikTok do have policies to prevent the propagation of such extremely violent content, they are not fool-proof as AI generators can avoid and hide under the guise of seemingly innocent content.