YouTube is getting ready to release a powerful new AI tool that could change how content is made and watched on the site. But not everyone thinks it’s a good thing.
YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity that the platform will soon add a new feature that lets creators make YouTube Shorts entirely with AI. This feature will be powered by Google’s Veo 3, the company’s newest generative video model.
This should make it easier than ever to make short content. In real life? It could be the next big step in the flood of what critics call “AI slop,” which is low-effort, fake content that mixes real and fake things and doesn’t offer much in the way of substance.
A Creative Revolution or Just More Noise?
Mohan was very positive about AI’s future, saying that it could help YouTube’s mission of being creator-driven.
He said, "Cutting-edge AI technology will push the limits of human creativity." "YouTube will still be the place where everything happens."
But the truth may be more complicated. What happens to the value of originality, authenticity, or even truth if AI starts making things from scratch?
Mohan sees a future where AI helps more people tell stories and reach more people, but critics say it could lead to a flood of bad, hard-to-tell videos. And in a media world that is already full of false information, that’s a risk that needs to be brought up.
Everyone, including Hollywood, is watching.
The entertainment industry has seen the change. YouTube recently made a deal with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA) that lets some creators license their likenesses for AI-generated content. But the deal hasn’t put an end to bigger worries.
Writers, actors, and digital creators are becoming more and more worried about the uncontrolled spread of generative AI in entertainment. A lot of people are worried about the loss of intellectual property rights and the possibility of being replaced by deepfake-friendly tools like Veo 3.
There have been more calls for regulation, but lawmakers haven’t done much about it. Platforms like YouTube, on the other hand, seem to be moving forward with their AI plans anyway.
The Slippery Slope of Artificial Creativity
Mohan says that AI can make storytelling and creative expression better. But the announcement also means that the platform is moving toward automation, which could make the already-saturated content pool even more diluted.
What starts as a helpful tool for busy creators may soon become the norm for making endless, algorithmically optimized videos with little human input. And when AI is the only way to make videos, it’s hard to tell what we’re really watching.
What Happens Next?
It is still unclear if YouTube’s AI-generated Shorts tool will be a creative breakthrough or a disaster for content quality. It’s clear that this is just the start. YouTube is putting itself at the center of the generative video movement with Google’s Veo 3 under the hood.
It could change the game. It could be a mess. It will probably be both.
For the time being, YouTube seems happy to put a lot of money on fake content. We all have to decide whether to keep watching or start looking for something that feels more real.
