The Big Story What is AI baby slop and how can we save our kids from it?
Mar 17, 2026
Dr. Keri Ewart, chair and assistant professor studying AI in education and child development. She explains how AI-made, high-stimulation videos for toddlers are produced and why they proliferate. Short segments contrast research-backed children’s media with fast-paced algorithmic content. Practical approaches for vetting media, co-watching and harnessing AI positively are discussed.
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AI Supercharges Low Quality Baby Videos
- AI makes baby-targeted videos extremely cheap to produce, enabling vast quantities of low-quality content to flood YouTube.
- Keri Ewart explains creators can generate videos with prompts instead of hiring animators, so platforms scrape and repurpose internet data leading to unpredictable quality.
Host Example Shows Algorithm Pushing Strange Shorts
- Catherine Jette demonstrates algorithm-driven drift by searching alphabet videos and seeing bizarre AI-generated shorts recommended next.
- She describes bowling balls smashing shapes and exploding balls narrated with mispronunciations as examples.
Hyperreal Fast Clips Distort Toddlers Reality
- Hyperreal, fast-paced AI videos blur fantasy and reality for young children and disrupt their developing mental schemas.
- Keri Ewart warns lack of narrative and rapid rapid-fire scenes cause mis-education about what everyday life looks like.