Wake up, it’s time to check out the latest viral AI video generator that’s making waves. This time, the spotlight is on Google’s Veo 3, which was unveiled on Tuesday during the company’s annual I/O keynote, rather than OpenAI’s Sora model. As expected, people are eager to explore the capabilities of Veo 3, and the results have been, to say the least, chaotic. We’ve seen disjointed Michael Bay-style videos, talking muffins, self-aware AI sims, and puppy-centric pharmaceutical ads—the list goes on.
However, one thing that keeps catching my attention is the proliferation of AI-generated content that can only be described as “slop.” It seems like everyone is determined to use Veo 3 to create a deluge of smooth-brain YouTube content. Unfortunately, the model is quite good at producing this type of material. Don’t just take my word for it; here are some examples.
You can barely tell this iPhone unboxing isn’t real pic.twitter.com/vfZ2lUoliZ
— Matt Shumer (@mattshumer_) May 21, 2025
This isn’t entirely convincing, but at a glance, most people wouldn’t be able to distinguish it from real content, especially when scrolling through their social media feeds. If unboxing videos aren’t your thing, don’t worry, we’ve also got some man-on-the-street-style content for your viewing pleasure. Sorry, hawk-tuah girl, but it seems like the singularity is trying to capitalize on viral fame.
2. Stand-up comedy telling a funny joke that never happenedhttps://t.co/05M6cDZlzK
— Min Choi (@minchoi) May 22, 2025
While Veo’s generation isn’t perfect, it’s not entirely unconvincing either. And there’s more bad news: your Twitch-like smooth-brain content isn’t safe from AI generation either. Here’s an example of a picture-in-picture-style “Fortnite” stream that simulates gameplay. Note that this is just an AI representation of Fortnite, not actual gameplay. The idea of simulating a simulation is somewhat mind-bending, and to be honest, it makes my head ache, so I’ll have to pass on that one.
Uhhh… I don’t think Veo 3 is supposed to be generating Fortnite gameplay pic.twitter.com/bWKruQ5Nox
— Matt Shumer (@mattshumer_) May 21, 2025
I’m not trying to be an alarmist, but AI-generated content for YouTube, Twitch, or TikTok isn’t going to have a significant positive impact. In the grand scheme, it’s not going to hurt anyone, but it also doesn’t paint a rosy picture of our AI-generated future. If there’s one thing we don’t need more of, it’s filler content. Social media is already mostly junk, and the addition of AI-generated content makes one wonder what the outcome will be. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, and video generators like Flow, Google’s “AI filmmaker,” will revolutionize content creation for real artists, but I have my doubts.
At the very least, I’d like to see some safeguards implemented if video generation is going to become mainstream. As harmless as AI-generated content might seem, the ability to generate fairly convincing videos shouldn’t be taken lightly. There’s huge potential for misinformation and propaganda, and if all it takes to mitigate that is watermarking videos created with Veo 3, then it feels like a necessary first step. For now, we’ll just have to take the explosion of Veo 3-enabled content with a grain of salt, because there’s a lot of “slop” to sift through, and this might just be the beginning.
