Artificial intelligence is enabling a new kind of content creator on YouTube, where fully virtual personalities are attracting millions of viewers and generating significant revenue. Zach Vallese reports for CNBC that these AI-powered virtual YouTubers, or VTubers, are part of a growing trend. One prominent example is a character named Bloo, who has amassed 2.5 million subscribers with videos of him playing popular games.
Bloo was created by longtime YouTuber Jordi van den Bussche, who said he wanted to overcome the limitations and burnout associated with human content creation. While a person still “puppeteers” Bloo by controlling his voice and movements with motion capture, AI handles many other production tasks. These include creating video thumbnails and dubbing the content into different languages. Van den Bussche stated his ultimate goal is to have Bloo’s personality and content be run entirely by AI.
Beyond individual characters, AI is also driving the rise of “faceless” YouTube channels. These channels use generative AI to produce videos with artificial images and voiceovers, often on a massive scale. A creator known as GoldenHand told CNBC he publishes up to 80 videos daily across his network of channels, which he describes as audiobooks paired with AI-generated images.
This trend has sparked concerns about a flood of low-quality, AI-generated material, sometimes called “AI slop”. Critics like AI policy advisor Henry Ajder worry that it is becoming harder to distinguish between human and machine-made content. However, creators argue they are simply meeting audience demand for this type of content.
