The 'brain rot' phenomenon: absurd content created with AI and turned into a business

BarcelonaIt is possible that in the last few days you have appeared in the section For you From Instagram or TikTok, or even on Facebook or Reddit, videos of Tralalero Tralala, a shark wearing Nike shoes made with artificial intelligence (AI). It is not the only artificial creature populating social media: there is also Bombardiro Crocodilo, a crocodile fused with a warplane; in Tung Tung Tung Sahur, a cane with a face and a bat; or the Capuchin Ballerina, a dancer whose head is a coffee. These grotesque creatures, fruits of artificial intelligence, are part of the phenomenon brain rot (rotten brain (in Catalan), the word chosen by the Oxford Dictionary as its Word of the Year. The word describes the feeling left after spending some time randomly and compulsively consuming content on social media and, at the same time, to designate that content itself.

Last year, the frequency of appearance of this term on the internet increased by 230%. The concept defines the impact of consuming poor quality content found on social networks, often made with more or less clumsy AI, and also to describe videos that make no sense, like the aforementioned characters. brain rot is part of an even wider stream, theIA slop, which is theavalanche of images generated by artificial intelligence that are saturating the network, regardless of their aesthetic quality.

Other examples of videos that can be found are of famous characters, such as a Dora the Explorer with giant muddy feet eating potato chips; a toilet with a face and eyes, known as Skibidi Toilet, exploding; an army of Shrek characters fighting; the story of a cat who is cuckolded and loses weight; or sexualized Disney princesses, among many others. The virality of these videos is based on a hypnotic combination of striking elements: overloaded images, intense colors, catchy music and nonsensical narratives that capture attention precisely because of their lack of logic.

The more disconcerting the content, the greater its viewing potential, which has led creators to begin to devise strategies to protect themselves from this phenomenon. Increasingly, through automated intelligence and without any coherence, they seek to create unusual content. In other words, the more confusing or surprising a piece of content is, the more it spreads and interacts on the platform, even if the reactions aren't always positive. This type of content captures the attention of users, who stop to look at it, replay it repeatedly to try to understand it, and often share or comment on it with puzzled expressions.

Content Monetization

These contents, however absurd they may be, have become a business. The web 404 Media He explained that there are entire communities on the Discord platform, such as Interlink AI, which teaches you step by step how to create videos and what commands to give the AI to generate similar content. There are also guides on how to make these videos go viral and monetize them, and forums to resolve technical questions. However, to enter, you have to pay the $30 monthly fee that, they say, is the cost of using the server. When a user makes their content go viral, they sell the content. prompt (the exact instructions given to the artificial intelligence to generate it) and the template, so another user only has to change something in the video (the protagonist, the place where it happens, or even some action) and try their luck. Instagram, instead of slowing down this phenomenon, reinforces it economically: it allows creators to monetize their videos through bonuses for virality, and it incentivizes the mass production of this phenomenon. In this way, under the guise of absurd entertainment, the brain rot It has become a lucrative and massive business.

Instagram allows creators who achieve a million followers and a verified rating to earn money. The platform places ads on these creators' content. Still, smaller content creators can make direct deals with brands and, in exchange for promoting their products or services, earn money for each click or when they reach a certain number of views. According to Metricool, a social media management tool, influencer A mid-level account (50,000 to 250,000 followers) can earn between €1,000 and €10,000 per post with advertising, and a micro account (10,000 to 50,000 followers) between €100 and €2,000. Several accounts brain rot They are macro-marketing, and can earn between €5,000 and €30,000 per post with advertising. Additionally, creators can open their own Instagram stores with the Instagram Shopping option or receive badges from their followers, virtual stars that can be exchanged for cash.