I am actually becoming a Youtube Channel watcher.

[OAITW r.2.0]

Last edited Tue Dec 30, 2025, 06:33 PM - Edit history (1)

I knew of it, but didn't really spend any time with it on my TV. Since Christmas, I think I've only watched the vids showing up in my stream.

Music - They are obviously tied into my YT Music account (which I really like). But it delivers a lot of new music that I am liking.

History - Watched a few WW2 vids about people who did incredible acts of heroism during the war. Like the 20 YO that took on 94 Japanese bombers and fighters who were on a mission to destroyed a key AF base in Burma. Incredible how he disrupted and then, flew inverted ,back to his airfield due to his flight controls detroyed.

Our Economic future. Not good. Tarrifs are making companies like Boeing, GM, Ford relocate to Canada. Toyota is is investing their future in Canada. If Trump were to declare Tarrifs over, it may be too late.

On edit: I really like Jeffery Sachs and Robert Reich's podcasts. They are telling us where the Trump economic policies are leading us....And we are going to pay a long term price for this MAGA folly.

But, I realize that AI is seeding a lot of disinfo. One video purports to be Racheal Maddow telling her audience that a Trump Jet was seized with $50MM cash on board. A getaway vehicle? Total AI BS. There's a lot of "good news" stories about new crimes that have been uncovered and people chase this shit.

Medias Touch - While I am a member and contribute to MT....I am enjoying watching Ben's Videos. Just watch Katie Phang reporting on DeSantis stealling $35MM from Florida taxpayers to torpedo marijuana and abortion issues.

I may never watch broadcast TV again.
.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Read the disclaimers on historic pieces (click the 'more" description button)

Some are AI fakes. Small folks who won the war by bending a gizmo that stopped 4 battalions in their tracks are common.

[hlthe2b]

3. Absolutely! Oh, boy, some of those are so damned fake just to get views... Sickening

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. I'm also wondering about all of the Ukraine "good news" military stories.

[bucolic_frolic]

5. lol, yes you're correct to question it

There are updates posted here weekly if not daily ... The Collapse of the Chinese Economy. China has been failing since April!

And we read of Ukraine success after success, but Russia seems to hang in there. We're missing out on something.

[Thunderbeast]

54. Me too

I see the same B rolls of the same drone drivers in the same bunker. You would think that All of Russia was on fire from three cheap drones bought on Amazon.

[The Madcap]

12. For WW2, the best is the one called "World War Two" by the Time Ghost Army.

Right now, they are running "The Rise of Hitler." Their best, though, is the full WW2 week-by-week series. Lots of authentic footage and commentary. No AI.

They also have a WW1 series called "The Great War." For other wars, etc., the "TimeGhost History" (no space) channel is the way to go.

These are highly recommended.

[Bev54]

28. I love watching some of the Canadian war stories just to find the stupid errors that they

make, like using our new flag which was not even a thought during the war, naming places in Canada for prisoners that didn't house prisoners (we definitely had camps but they often get it wrong). Some times you have to laugh out loud at some of the ridiculous claims.

[hlthe2b]

2. I subscribe to a limited number of "channels"--mostly music, Meidas Touch, and a few others not AI-generating

But, yes. AI is taking over, so subscribing to a few trusted channels and ignoring the rest is my only suggestion.

[OAITW r.2.0]

6. The responses I got to a "Psychology of people who grew up in the 60's" woke me up.

I'm certainly clicking and asking that question now.

[tavernier]

7. I walk on my treadmill through cities on YouTube

And bike on my stationary bike through countries. Awesome and interesting exercise when it’s too hot in the summer to work outdoors here in the tropics.

[hlthe2b]

9. Now THAT is a good idea!

[tavernier]

19. Just go to search and hit any city or country you'd like to explore.

Some of the walking tours are so detailed, covering every street. I remember when someone was talking about how beautiful Barcelona was and I nodded and said yes I’ve been there, before it hit me that I had been there, but not in person, lol.

[highplainsdem]

10. I know of another DUer who does that, who sent me links to some favorite videos.

[tavernier]

18. I go to YouTube and search any city or country I'd like to see.

You can even look for walking tours or biking tours specifically. I found Rome and Barcelona to be wonderful walking cities. I like biking along the shores of a river or through the Alps. Of course I’m on my stationary bike, so I’m not panting as my bicycle climbs up the side of a mountain, but the scenery is beautiful.

[anciano]

8. I have found YouTube to be a great resource for entertainment and enjoyment....

music from the 50s & 60s, vintage films, historical documentaries, foreign language lessons, live nature cams, and a host of other options.

[Dave says]

29. I started watching YouTube maybe 6 months ago

At first it was good. Lots of real quantum physics (which I like) and other science topics, music too. Then, a month or two ago, my feed changed. Lots of AI slop. But even the authentic suggestions went markedly downhill. I don’t know why. It’s almost unbearable for me now.

On edit: due to commercials, I haven’t been watching films and documentaries. I see them in my feed. I should take advantage of those now. (I subscribe to the Criterion film site, which meets most of my film-watching desires.)

[canetoad]

11. Youtube has plenty

Of excellent videos - documentaries, crime, instructional etc. But it's becoming hard to wade through the cesspool of AI, breathless hyperbole and straight up fakes and disinformation.

I've been pruning down my suggestions for several years and this crap still pops up.

[The Madcap]

13. Youtube is also great for foreign language learning.

The Easy Languages channels are excellent, especially the Easy German, Easy Spanish, and Easy French channels. There's an enormous number of grammar, vocabulary, and dialog channels as well.

[eShirl]

14. I subscribe to channels I trust on subjects I like, and only look at my subscriptions feed

and I keep my watch history turned off so it doesn't suggest as much stuff (that's my theory)
https://www.youtube.com/feed/subscriptions

[msongs]

15. many of those ww2 vids popping up lately are pure AI garbage. there has been a flood of them showing

in my recommended list

[OAITW r.2.0]

17. Why doesn't Youtube label AI content?

Seems like that would be an easy thing to do.

[highplainsdem]

24. The people using the AI tools, especially those paying to use them, don't want

their AI slop labeled as AI. More than one AI tool will leave watermarks on work generated by their free tier - not so much to identify them as to turn anything posted into free advertising - but will remove watermarks if you pay to use the tool, making that another incentive to subscribe.

I saw an article a year ago about OpenAI having polled users about whether they'd want their AI creations labeled AI, and the answer was an overwhelming NO.

Generative AI is basically about pretense and fraud. Whoever was behind that channel with the "Psychology of..." video you posted the other day probably isn't anyone you'd trust to know anything about the '60s and the people who grew up then, and they might never have been to the US, but AI lets them gather some generic commentary on the '60s and generate what look something like generic images of the '60s and pretend to be expert.

And those videos get views, which YouTube wants.

The only reason YouTube is asking creators to label AI as synthetic content is that there have been a lot of complaints about AI slop. But they left it voluntary, even knowing a lot if not most of the AI-slop creators won't label it. That's YouTube's own pretense of doing something.

[OAITW r.2.0]

25. Thanks hpd.....I got educated on that thread. And I'm applying more critical thinking skills

on what I watch.

[highplainsdem]

36. I'm sorry that you and I and all of us who are honest have to watch out for all this fraud that's around

now. It's unfair to all of us.

The AI companies have known how much harm they're doing for years, and they simply don't care.

[MerryBlooms]

49. All it takes is getting took by 1 video!

Now my feed is flooded by slop! I'm so disgusted.

[highplainsdem]

53. Same here. Every time I've looked at AI slop video posted by someone here, looking at the channel

so I can explain to them why it's AI, I'll get lots of videos from that slop channel and others showing up in the recommendations.

[Johonny]

16. The good history channels shows

Before it became aliens and Jesus central all on there. BBC docs are all well done.

[PJMcK]

20. Keep an eye out for the AI slop

Check the source because YouTube is getting infected with fake videos.

[OAITW r.2.0]

21. Came aware quickly....see OP.

[PJMcK]

22. Yeah, I read your whole post

I’m just disgusted that YouTube is allowing this crap on their platform. It’s infringing on intellectual rights and misleading their audience.

I meant my comment as a heads-up not a criticism of your OP.

Like you, I enjoy the legitimate videos. Happy New Year.

[OAITW r.2.0]

23. Understood.

Happy New Year and a long life to you, my friend.

[ret5hd]

26. one of us...one of us...one of us... (nt)

[Bev54]

27. There are a lot of Robert Reich fakes as well as Rick Wilson,

George Conway and many others. I always look up the person's actual youtube or podcast site to see if any video belongs to them, you can usually spot a fake very quickly that way.

[The Madcap]

30. Saw a really bad Rachel Maddow fake yesterday.

And a couple of George Will fakes. It would not surprise me if they are being made by Russia, but who knows? It is getting ridiculous.

On a side note, these data centers that are being built will need continual updating of video cards, cpus, etc., just to keep up. That's going to be a real pain for those of us who want to build new PC's in the future. Prices will be high.

[Bev54]

42. Yep I too have seen a lot of George Will fakes

I report each and every fake video to youtube, not sure if they are taking them down and they come back with a name change or they are just taking them off my feed but I am seeing less of those I report.

[OAITW r.2.0]

46. I watched a George Will fake.

Kinda sounded like that educated phony I remember.

First thing I noticed....the traffic kept going forward, then going backwards. Cosmopolitan setting. Then I noticed the vocals didn't match the verbal content.

If I were George Will - and I thank God(s) I am not - I'd sue these fuckers for expropriating his image to further ideas he may not agree with.

[The Madcap]

50. Probably the same as the one I saw.

Background was an urban street down below. Cars were disappearing into each other. Obvious fake.

Also, there were other "commentators" with videos about the same subject (T**** has 72 hours to provide financial records), and all were approximately the same length (i.e., about 28 minutes). Obviously repeated prompts but with different faces on the screen.

If this is the future, I think I'll move to Nome. Evading polar bears would be better for my sanity.

[OAITW r.2.0]

55. That's the Will fake video I saw.

Why isn't George going ballistic over the use of his image to spread disinfo? Does it pay well? Conservativism has always been about serving the interests of the very well off.

[hunter]

31. My wife and I quit broadcast television in January 2012.

Since then our television acts only as a monitor for our DVD player, laptops, and whatever streaming device we are currently using. We don't have cable or satellite.

Neither my wife or I watch any news or opinion video. I quit broadcast news a long time ago in the disgusting run-up to the war in Iraq.

If I can't make advertising that moves or makes noise go away, on either the television or the internet, I don't go there. We usually subscribe to two or three no-advertising streaming services at any given time. YouTube has a no-advertising subscription plan.

[Maninacan]

41. antenna

We have an antenna in Southern Wisconsin. Girlfriend has amazon so we stream that thru the internet connection. I let her operate it. It is so good to have the glass fiber connection. The whole country should be wired by now.

[hunter]

61. I know we could get a lot of stuff here with an antenna, but it all has advertising.

Even the PBS stations have been corrupted.

We're probably not going to get fiber internet in our neighborhood anytime soon. Both the cable television and phone lines are late 1970's direct-buried-in-ground technology, no conduits. AT&T doesn't seem to be interested in their hard-wired infrastructure any more and is trying to switch anyone who has a landline/DSL to 5G wireless. Comcast/Xfinity, now considering themselves a monopoly, really doesn't give a shit about their hapless customers who keep paying their bills by habit for very mediocre service.

My wife and I had relatively high speed internet service from third party providers before Pacific Bell or Comcast were even offering internet service to residential customers. My wife needed that for her work. AT&T stopped supporting our third party wired connection more than a year ago and we were lucky enough, our home being on a hill, that we could replace it with fixed wireless.

5G would work too. I simply won't do business with Comcast.

Bringing high speed internet to everyone in the U.S.A. would be a trivial endeavor compared to the rural electrification and telephone projects of FDR's New Deal.

[The Madcap]

47. A big benefit of that plan is that Youtube Music is included.

I get my value by downloading albums I wouldn't normally go out and buy but that I might be interested in hearing.

[Ferrets are Cool]

32. I am right there with you.

In addition to what you have listed, I have started watching tons of manga on YT.
I've said it for many years, YT is the greatest invention of the current era.

[bluedigger]

33. I watch it all the time.

All of my shows are on streaming platforms now, and the only reason I have youtubetv is for sports. A lot of those are moving to streaming platforms now, too. I'd rec Jake Broe's channel - he is a Ukraine focused guy, but he's leaning hard into politics as well. He might even run for office sometime, or at least he's admitted giving it some thought. Lots of great non AI history channels out there, too.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

34. youtube is great for "how to fix dishwasher", "How to unclog drain..., "How to sew pants..."

[Maninacan]

40. fixed my van

A youtuber showed how to fix a latch on my van. I would never have figured it out. It was so simple.

[1WorldHope]

35. I subscribe to YouTube tv. It's not really cheap. Are you talking about something different?

[OAITW r.2.0]

37. Regular Youtube. YT TV is a TV channel aggregator. The only reason I watch is NBC Boston Sports - They air the Celtics

Otherwise, I'd save the $80.00, Regular Youtube is on my smart TV, so I can watch all kinds of content. Really enjoying it currently.

[highplainsdem]

38. He's talking about YouTube.com

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube

[The Madcap]

48. We bailed on Youtube TV

We weren't watching it enough to justify the cost. Also, I hate ads, so watching commercial TV was becoming less and less appealing.

[1WorldHope]

62. It's mostly a waste for us. We watch MSNBC, comedy central.

My husband watches sports. It is a waste, the way things are going turning it all off and reading a book and listening the music should be a far better life.

[Maninacan]

39. youtube

I watch a few people to learn about solar or campervan things. Some are better than others. Also listen to music. Recently was looking to see Pantograph mills being operated as I am a retired toolmaker. Some of the ww11 stuff is fake or AI now

[1WorldHope]

43. Ohhh, thank you both so much. Now I'm on board.

[ShazamIam]

44. I visit youtube every day and yes recently there is an alarming number of AI posts faking people like Rachel Maddow and

politicians saying stupid stuff and promoting disinformation. Always look up the poster's information and notice the problems with speech, both vocabulary and voice. But if you are not familiar with the person you could be easily be misled.

[mitch96]

45. I watch too many you tube vids...Subscribe to too many very good content creators. Anything I want to learn

or get educated about is there. The marketing drives me nuts though...
m

[prodigitalson]

51. I hear you. Even when there is a broadcast major network TV show

If you can wait a day or two, it will be on YouTube. Maybe sooner.

[Warpy]

56. There is even more crap on YouTube than there is on TV, so be very selective

but yes, the informative stuff is better than anything on broadcast TV.

[Disaffected]

57. A lot of (very justified) discussion here about AI slop.

One thing in particular about your OP that caught my eye was "Tarrifs are making companies like Boeing, GM, Ford relocate to Canada. Toyota is is investing their future in Canada. If Trump were to declare Tarrifs over, it may be too late."

That's news to me - I hope it is true but I cannot think of any instances. If anything the flow seems to be in the opposite direction.

[The Madcap]

58. I just saw the most heinous AI slop video.

It was a short with several clips following the same script:

A baby is laying unconscious on its back in a hospital bed. A breathing tube is attached to its nose. The parents surround the bed, saying things like "We don't want to lose you" and "Please come back to us."

Suddenly, a cat jumps up onto the baby's chest, puts its face into the baby's face, and the baby begins crying. It's a miracle!

This script repeats over and over with different babies and cats. Who knew medicine could be so easy? Just put a cat on an unconscious baby's chest, and it will be well again. Appalling!!!

[Bettie]

59. There is a lot of good

Stuff on YouTube. Plenty of terrible stuff too.

Nothing is going to be perfect, but everyone can find something that works for them

[ProfessorGAC]

60. Me, Too

I have a YouTube page, so I signed on through my TV and find myself going there a lot.
I watched the 1951 version of Scrooge on YouTube on Christmas day.
I've got multiple subscriptions for music, musicians, & golf.
Lately, I've been watching the episodes of the shows of Feynmann & Cox on Cosmology & astrophysics.
I watch it more than I ever thought I would.