My son is still young, almost 8, so I'm speaking for near that age level. He doesn't get unrestricted access to YouTube. If he's watching YouTube, it's with one of us present and helping him navigate it. He always wants to watch the video that's the lowest quality shit just based on the thumbnail, because they have thumbnails that stick out. I've taught him about "low quality" content and we've watched a couple so he could understand what I meant. Now, when he wants to watch something like that, I say "no, that's going to be low quality," he seems to understand and we move on to find something else.

Eventually, I'm going to let him navigate YouTube alone sometimes, and then go back and look at his watch history to see how things are going. He doesn't know watch history is a thing, nor will I ever tell him. If things go off the rails, we will guide them back to the rails slowly and nonjudgmentally

That said, we were at a restaurant the other day and a woman was there with her baby and a friend. She set that infant in a high chair with AI slop on her phone right in its face. The kid definitely didn't disturb her conversation, because it looked like a zombie. Godspeed, child

I am a very progressive parent. I was harassed by my parents for spending too much time on the computer and I make 6 figures working in tech now and spend 8 hours a day minimum on the computer. When I say I'm progressive I'm not exaggerating. Robotics are the future of humanity. Understanding tech is the future 6 figure job my kid will have. First and foremost I pay for YT premium to avoid the constant barrage of unreviewed ads. Secondly I take a night every week to go through her watch history and remove some videos that are questionable for the algorithm. I also block channels in the suggested area and block watched makers if they are slop or ... bad...

I also tell her she is allowed to watch shorts but ONLY if she is able to watch longer form content above all. I do not believe in tik tok and that started way before trumps cronies owned it. I believe tik tok type consumption is one of those things that will come in a fad and ease out of fad.

I also watch sometimes with her to identify Ai slop and I show her videos if I ever fall for Ai. I got really excited about a fox video the other day that turned out to be ai and I showed her and she recognized the Ai tells before I did.

This allows a kid to explore technology without pressure or fear but avoids the Ai stuff. I also have her lookup facts if I know them to be wrong. We watch a lot of dar man because its child friendly but boy fact checking those videos are a riot.

She is very smart so I rarely have to do anything now but she started yt back when those creepy vilent Elsa videos were popular. So I have been using this method for 6 years. She is a tech wiz, she is smart, made high honor roll, her focus is still intact and she does well at school.

This was also important to me. I also noticed some channels which were satire of middle schoolers would influence her behavior, so we talk about it. Then if the behavior continues ues I block the channel. Later she can watch again if she feels she is strong minded enough. Some weird pov YouTube rs were cut off for a year but have been allowed back as she is not pliable in those ways anymore.

Anyways thats the most serious and in depth answer. I hate to pay for YouTube but its the best way to keep her on a single platform with the most visibility and I can adjust the algorithm through her history

Only whitelist content or creators you personally have vetted with apps like YouTube kids, jellyfin, etc until you can trust their own decision making. Then share an account so that you can see watch history (and hopefully your good media choices influenced their tastes as you would share an algorithm)

I don't, I don't gatekeep their entertainment. I do critically discuss the content with them though.

IMHO it's more important to teach them to critically analyse what they consume.

First, help them discover real connections, with their friends, family, volunteer work, or even work with animals.

Introduce them to good content; art, music, plays, poetry, novels, film, video games, etc. that actually make them feel or discover something.

Help them to think critically about the media they consume and they won't want entertainment to zone out to, but something that they can actually enrich themselfs with.

(disclaimer: I'm not a parent, so this is just what I think I would do with a hypothetical child)

How old is the said kid? If 5 or older, I'd have a talk with them about the following points: 1. what generative AI is, 2. why it's bad/why I don't want them to watch slop, and 3. how to recognise it, all adjusted so that a kid can grasp those things.

Another thing is to make sure they don't spend all or most of their time on screens, but instead ensure that they have the resources and attention to do normal, screenless kid things.

My kid doesnt have internet access

As in, his pc in his room has no internet

When he plays online in the living room he isnt allowed to go to the browser unless i am there to tell him what to type or which site to go on

And he has no smartphone etc, just a dumb ass nokia

My kid is 11

As a parent, screen time was a mistake.

I don't allow unsupervised watching of YouTube and all other platforms are forbidden.

Their computers are in a public space where I can see what they are doing and watching.

I also do not allow screens in their bedrooms the occasional exception being for homework not only if they can't get it done in a common room.

If you don’t show them better content, they can’t know the difference. Watch YT with them, but put on good stuff made by humans. There’s plenty of that. Also consider accounts - once they have their own account they will tumble down the shit hole that is the algorithm. If you let them use your account, they will have a better established base, and you will easily see what they are watching. If this doesn’t work for you, created a moderated, shared account that you use and populate with good algorithm juju.

If you want to control what your child sees you have to control what your child sees. There is no shortcut. You either shut off the methods for the companies to feed slop to your child or you curate the things that come in via those methods. You cannot automate it.

Personally, I'd shut off basically any social media or algorithmic feeds for the kid. They don't need that corporate reality-distortion during the years in which you are trying to develop them into a functional human.

You could try the app "Slop detective". It's an iOS / Android app developed for kids to learn to detect AI slop. Alternatively, you can simply open slopdetective.kagi.com if you don't want to install anything. It's created by kagi.com, the company behind the search engine. They have several initiatives to fight AI slop, this educational app being one of them.

Raise them in the woods with no access to the outside world until the age of forty.

Just to like the radio, television, internet, etc...AI slip is here to stay, it might die down, but the cats out of the bag. I would take the same steps you would regular parental controls for tv/phone/internet if you're concerned.

Secondly and more importantly you should be teaching your kids critical thinking skills and not to believe everything they see or hear...just like that old quote

"Believe half of what you see and nothing of what you hear."

The reason I say that is regardless of what you think of AI, it's good enough now to where you can grab a few minutes sound bite of someone from Facebook or YouTube and be able to imitate there voice.

This generation is going to have to be much more viligant not just about spam emails, but audio and video calls imitaing a manger or a significant other...it's going to be very interesting

You can’t and any attempt to do so will only entice them.

You can’t unless you block social media which includes YouTube. At the end of the day, with my 8yo, I’m taking the approach of using parental controls to limit exposure to content he shouldn’t see and then doing my best to ensure he knows how to spot AI videos in their current state.

It's not really that hard with my son 13, I monitor what he's doing discreetly using apps and just listening to what he's doing. I make sure to explain to him what I find acceptable and I give him space and freedom to make mistakes but I'm also clear about the consequences. I don't let him out of sight or ear shot.

My daughter 5 on the other hand is much tougher, she likes to watch slop and I have to limit it block shows or apps that have "free streaming" because the garbage is everywhere. She doesn't understand or know the difference, she doesn't see the overt government or corporate propaganda and low effort quality, she just sees bright colors and happy cartoons and signing. Here's hoping my efforts aren't for not.

Otherwise, just keep them off the black hole that is social media (Facebook/Instagram/tweeter and their clones) because there's nothing good or redeemable there, limit YouTube and similar sites, take part in their lives while also giving the space to make decisions, don't completely cut out AI but encourage creativeness using all of the tools available to them, encourage quality over quantity, instill healthy values, be flexible, and treat them like young humans. Treating them like young humans also means setting boundaries, being firm, standing your ground and being consistent. They're humans not flowers. The values part is probably the hardest part to impart because what everyone themselves value doesn't necessarily mean the same thing to everyone else and life is full of contradictions so they need to be able to decide who/what/when/where is the right choice and completely denying everything will blow up in your or their faces.

The values we teach them as parents is what will allow them to decide when is the right time to allow AI content as something acceptable and give them the knowledge for how to use it to their advantage. AI isn't going away so don't run away from it, but that doesn't mean we have to accept the shit corporations are cramming down our throats or allow it to run our lives and raise our kids.

It's a long war and a lot of people give up or declare victory too soon. Never give up, never surrender, because one day you will be old and AI will be running your life support machines and I hope someone's lazy kid didn't half ass train it because they grew up watching Cocomelon.

Don't give them full access to the internet until college.

I don't have kids but I keep seeing iPad baby slop and it's disturbing to me and it's one of the reasons why i probably won't have any

You can’t, and shouldn’t try. Spending time in moderation is more important, so limit that. Sure when they’re little you have to open restrictions over time but keep the focus on recognizing ai slop and understanding the issues with it.

Sooner than you think, they’re watching is out of your control so it quickly becomes critical for them learn about

I feel sorry for parents. I almost replicated but thank god I did not. I obsered others and kept a record. My findings since I was a child is things are only gonna get worse. I might be a broke, I might be a joke but I sleep with the gravity of a thousand suns. Good luck out there. Thoughts and Prayers

"If I find out you've been watching AI slop, there will be consequences. And don't think hiding it from me will make sure I don't find out. Watching slop makes people stupid in a very particular way, and you can't stop yourself from catching stupid from it, so I'll be able to tell."

It's up to you what "consequences" means in this instance. You could even reveal that the consequence was the stupidity they developed along the way, and now they have to live with that.

(By all means, modify this message to be less cold and more kind and loving. I am not good at that sort of thing.)