How YouTuber Mark Rober thinks creators can fight back against AI slop

• AI-generated content is flooding social media feeds.
• Mark Rober, the science YouTuber, says creators should lean into real-world content to stand out.
• "Do you want to see a simulation of someone dunking a basketball with a sick trick, or do you want to see someone actually do it?" he said.

AI slop is mucking up our feeds and making some creators worry that their content will get buried under a sea of generic videos. So, what's the remedy?

Creators can fight back by going out in the real world and actually doing something, Mark Rober, a science YouTuber who has more than 85 million subscribers, told Business Insider.

"Do you want to see a simulation of someone dunking a basketball with a sick trick, or do you want to see someone actually do it?" he said. "The fact that you know it's real is what makes it crazy."

AI presents both a challenge and an opportunity for creators. It can speed up video editing and help content spread further via tools like AI language dubbing. However, it's leading to the commodification of content. That's a big problem for some types of creators, like not-on-camera YouTubers or animated channels. It could also offer an edge to creators with a recognizable face and a dedicated audience, Rober said.

"Our brains developed for hundreds of thousands of years with human connection," and there will be a craving for "real and authentic" content, he said.

"At least for a while, I think I have a moat on the YouTube channel," because of that, he added.

Social media platforms are aware that AI-generated content is proliferating in their feeds, and some have begun to crack down on it. YouTube is demonetizing AI content that looks mass-produced or generic as part of its inauthentic content policy. LinkedIn allows users to flag when a post "seems like AI slop." TikTok lets users toggle the amount of AI content they see in their feeds, and Substack offers a Pangram-powered tool to scan newsletters for AI writing.

While Rober says his appearances in YouTube videos can help them break through, his long-term goal is to shift more to the background and let his company, CrunchLabs, take center stage.

"I want CrunchLabs to be a lot more well known than Mark Rober," he said.

Rober said his company broke even on its YouTube channels last year, earning around $17 million in revenue while incurring a similar amount of costs. Its profit driver is CrunchLabs, which sells a mix of consumer goods, including maker kits designed to teach young people about science and engineering. It also offers a free educational curriculum for schools. The company now has over 200 employees, Rober said. Its mission is to encourage learning and curiosity.

"Curiosity is so important in this new age of AI," Rober said. "It means you just have a lifetime of learning, versus like, 'Oh, this thing knows the answer, so who cares?'" he said, referring to the instant answers that AI chatbots can provide.