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.
“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.)
Your phrasing here is all but certain to achieve the opposite of your desired outcome 😂
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
You sound like a great parent, and this should ideally be how every parent teaches their kids. Trust, open discussion, and a welcoming environment for questions.
How do you block channels? Is that a premium feature?
You can block channels for a child.
First you will need to set up their account as a child account, and your own account as a parent account using the Family system in Google.
On mobile: Using your PARENT account, go to the channel you want to block for your child. Then press the “3-dot” menu in the top right corner, then select “Block channel for kids”, and finally select which child accounts to block it for.
On desktop: Using your PARENT account, go to the channel you want to block. Click the channel description. Scroll to the bottom. Click “Report user”. In the menu that pops up select “Block channel for children”, and then select which whildren to block the channel for.
There’s an option “Don’t recommend videos from this channel” when you click on three-dots of the recommended video.
Thanks! I shall try that and see if that helps.
You can limit shorts in the YouTube parental settings! Just found out about this a few weeks ago
You can’t disable them completely, but you can set a time limit
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)
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
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
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
Don’t give them full access to the internet until college.
They need to do a PHD before getting internet access in my family
That’s a little unrealistic, is it not?
i can’t tell if alot of these answers are sarcastic or not…
i know social media as a whole is predominantly affluent rich people with too much time on their hands, so maybe that’s just what this demographic is about idk. but surely these people know if you coddle too much the second these kids leave the nest they’re going to make an absolute shitload of mistakes
better to make those mistakes young in relatively controlled environment, teach critical analysis/how to avoid scams/watch out for predatory behavior etc. than to try and pretend it doesn’t exist through a walled garden
you can’t stay in walled garden forever, at some point someone is either escaping, breaking in, or the walls just crumbling down
i can’t tell if alot of these answers are sarcastic or not…
I was being serious. Maybe college is an exaggeration but I really do think kids shouldn’t get internet until at least highschool.
I admit it’s mostly bias. I turned out fine therefore I think the way I was raised is good.
Just teach them how to use the internet safely and properly. Not to say their age and their address, not to add random people on discord, stuff like that. If you isolate your kids from the internet, then at this point in time, you’re kind of isolating them from a decent chunk of human culture, which from personal experience (anecdotal, not very useful, I know), is a terrible idea. I was raised Mormon, I know how restricting access to things goes for kids. They’ll end up buying a phone off of a friend with less of an idea of how to use it safely. Maybe check their youtube homepage once in a while, make sure it isn’t slop, ask them about what they’re doing on there, answer any questions they have. Might wanna filter some stuff before middle school though. Block gore sites, those tend to fuck people up quite a bit.
Maybe.
When I was a kid we didn’t have internet until highschool. We’d borrow mom’s laptop for homework and smuggle some games on the way. It made us very… resourceful. Internet was this magical inaccessible thing. I remember when our school gave us tablets with restricted internet, I guessed my math teacher’s password based on how he typed and used his account it to access the full internet.
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
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.
I agree that if you completely take away their agency that it only makes the slop look more attractive but I also disagree that sentiment that “you can’t”. Technically it’s true. But that doesn’t mean we ought to give in to slop as parents. Low effort slop has been around since before AI. Find ways to teach the importance of genuine creative content and cultivate a preference for the real creative works with your children.
In the narrow context of AI slop images it just such a nothing issue. There are so many insanely hard challenges to parenting that worry about you kid seeing shitty art isnt one of them.
You disagree with the sentiment that you can’t. LMAO how to tell me you have never revised a kid without telling me you have never raised a kid.
No reason to downvote this comment. You can’t keep your kids away from everything you think is harmful. It’s also not good for them, because even if you manage to do so, they won’t be able to properly handle it, when they’re grown up.
Explain to them what is what, what aspects about it are harmful and how to recognize if something was generated with AI or not.
Parenting isn’t about shielding your kids from everything you think is bad for them, but about preparing them to handle real life and it’s challenges.
(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.
Hard restrictions of devices based on age. No phones or tablets until high school. No social media until 16.
Lots of activities.
Great way to make sure your kid gets bullied and socially excluded, resulting in lifelong trauma. Not to mention that they will then start using the internet with the media literacy of an average 70 year old and fall for everything they should’ve learned with parental guidance at a young age.
Well, the oldest is 14 has no bullying, went to the worlds for robotics and has a great group of friends. So maybe your fears are just your fears.
Edit: they have technology, but using a laptop during specific times has little to none of the dopamine hacking mobiles give, yet all the communication and information required.
LMAO… Ok Warren Jeffs, good luck with that.
As a parent, screen time was a mistake.
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.
