Busy parents attempting to juggle everyday tasks with raising children often turn to independent play toys or tablets to complete simple tasks like folding laundry or preparing dinner.
Many might search for an age-appropriate video on YouTube to entertain their toddler during that short time. But new reporting finds that seemingly harmless videos purporting to be "educational" on YouTube are posing genuine risks to the children who watch them.
i am begging parents to monitor what their children are actually watching on their devices https://t.co/LweQr2m9ct
— bONGO 💫 (@wariocolosseum) March 28, 2026
The 74 and Mother Jones released a concerning report that found several instances of AI-generated videos pushing nonsensical content or damaging lessons to young audiences.
In one video that's supposed to be a nursery rhyme about cars, children ride without a seatbelt and walk in the middle of a road with moving cars behind them. In another sing-along video about the U.S. states, the names are garbled, such as "Ribio Island," "Conmecticut," "Oklolodia," and "Louggisslia," which confuses the intended educational purpose. And one video depicted a baby eating a fistful of grapes, a known choking hazard for infants.
Researchers are sounding the alarm on these unregulated, AI-derived products for babies and children.
"I think of this as toddler AI misinformation at an industrial scale. It's very risky for the developing brain," stated Dr. Dana Suskind, a professor of surgery and pediatrics at the University of Chicago.
Though we don't yet have clear numbers on the volume of these AI-generated videos for kids, it's clear that this issue is growing exponentially. "We're at the beginning of a monster problem, and we have to get hold of it quickly," said Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Temple University who studies child development.
Jo Jo Funland, the creator of one of the controversial car safety videos, has posted more than 10,000 videos since its first release just seven months ago, averaging about 50 new videos each day. In comparison, the reporting noted that Sesame Street has published just shy of 4,000 videos to YouTube in 20 years.
The cognitive decline associated with the consumption of "AI slop," which includes a shortened attention span, decreased focus, and mental fog, is known as "brainrot." But Suskind warns that when the audience is children, there's not much to rot; what you get instead, she said, is "brain stunt." She warns that parents "will be unintentionally wiring the brain in incorrect ways" with these types of AI-generated videos.
In response to this disturbing reporting, YouTube terminated six channels for violating the platform's terms of service and one channel for violating its spam policy. At the time of writing, the Jo Jo Funland account has been disabled.
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Save $1,000 this year 💸 None of the AI videos referenced in The 74's piece were identified through YouTube Kids, a distinct version of the platform with content that has been curated for children from birth to 12. However, a New York Times report did identify AI videos on YouTube Kids.
The rise of artificial intelligence has sparked controversy in nearly every facet of life. Though AI may include benefits such as extreme weather forecasting and optimizing renewable energy systems, concerns about AI's adverse impacts on education, energy costs, and online safety are growing almost as fast as artificial intelligence technologies are spreading.
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