YouTube is filled with hours of «history» videos created entirely by artificial intelligence. They repeat superficial texts from the Internet, often contain errors and inaccurate illustrations, but they garner millions of views and change the audience’s perception of the past.
YouTube is filled with hours of «history» videos created entirely by artificial intelligence. They repeat superficial texts from the Internet, often contain errors and inaccurate illustrations, but they garner millions of views and change the audience’s perception of the past.
According to 404 Media, the Sleepless Historian channel, in particular, publishes hours of AI videos every day, and its audience has exceeded 600 thousand users. There are already dozens of such «sleepy historians» on the platform: they broadcast content in a 24/7 format, and the topics range from medieval medicine to life in ancient Pompeii.
Real-life creators, including Pete Kelly (History Time) and The French Whisperer, have reported a 50-60% drop in views. They point out that AI videos often contain errors, inaccurate illustrations, and simplify complex historical processes. Moreover, there is an increasing number of cases where viewers confuse real channels with automated ones. To prove the «human origin» of the content, historians have begun to film themselves more often in the frame.
The situation is made worse by the fact that bot activity has been observed under AI videos, leaving hundreds of comments simulating viewer support. This creates the illusion of popularity and further fuels YouTube’s algorithms.
The platform has said it will combat the «mass production» of automated videos, but no real change has yet been seen. Experts warn that if the trend intensifies, viewers will receive a «flat» version of history created by machines, and it will be increasingly difficult for independent authors to compete for attention. Ultimately, this could affect not only the popularity of channels, but also the perception of the past by millions of people.
Previously, dev.ua wrote about how an IT student from the Philippines earns $9,000 per month on his YouTube channel by creating videos generated using artificial intelligence.
