Fake Pope Leo XIV: Coming Soon To YouTube?
(ANALYSIS) Every time that I turn on YouTube to check the channels that I follow, it’s impossible to miss the growing spectre of AI junk.
Let’s say that you are interested in the controversies swirling around superstar Caitlin Clark and the WNBA leadership’s attempts to figure out (Welcome to red v. blue America) how to minimize the impact of her massive fanbase on their league. Clark v. Nike is another popular topic for gossip, mixed with tiny amounts of real news.
Look at the tsunami of YouTube “channels” trying to cash in on Clark-mania! The fact that ESPN offers a modest amount of Clark content (Damn the ratings! Slow speed ahead!) has left the door open for all kinds “people” to fill the gap.
How real are many or even most of these channels? How good is your ear for AI grammar, repeated phrases and those all-to-familiar generic voices? It’s never good when the image promoting the video comes from a mainstream, legit source of sports personality, but the name of the channel is some unknown commentator or alleged news source.
Why lead with Caitlin Clark in a post about Pope Leo XIV and AI? I mean, Clark is a Catholic but, so far, I haven’t seen any digitally manufactured footage of her playing HORSE with the pope or her handing him a pair of her Kobe sneakers from Nike.
Like I said, SO FAR.
But some of the trends that are shaping “news” and online debates about Clark and other celebrities may soon affect what people think and believe about Pope Leo XIV.
Why? Truth is, YouTube and other channels of alternative content are playing a larger and larger role in public discourse. Did Donald Trump’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” have a major impact on the 2024 election? (#DUH)
You can read the rest of Terry Mattingly’s post on his Substack channel Rational Sheep.
Terry Mattingly is Senior Fellow on Communications and Culture at Saint Constantine College in Houston. He lives in Elizabethton, Tennessee, and writes Rational Sheep, a Substack newsletter on faith and mass media.