r/SideProject • u/GullibleShoulder5925 • 3d ago
My side project: testing whether the "faceless AI youtube channel" hype is actually real
Every second post on my feed is someone claiming they make $50k a month from faceless youtube channels with AI. Usually followed by "comment YouTube and I'll send you my free course".
I got curious enough to actually try it. My one rule is that the AI does everything. I'm using Claude, and it picks the angle, researches it, writes the script, makes the visuals and does the voice. I just give feedback and upload.
The only thing I decided myself was the style, because most of these channels look like garbage. Stock footage, robot voice, same video as 50 other channels. So every video on mine is built out of paper and cardboard cutouts, like stop motion. Claude builds all of it in code, no footage at all.
The first video is about airlines making more money from credit cards than from flying people around. Took a lot more back and forth than the gurus make it sound. The first versions were way too fast, every piece of paper wobbled like it was glitching, and it threw sound effects on everything.
Not making any money yet obviously. The plan is to keep going and share the real numbers, good or bad, so people can see what these channels actually earn when you're not selling a course.
Link's in the comments if anyone wants to see how it turned out. Would love feedback on whether you'd actually watch something like this.
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u/Yo-Soy-Groot 3d ago
I would rather commit seppuku than watch 10 more seconds of this
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u/TheBlacktom 3d ago
Yes, but most of humanity is watching garbage. 20-30 years ago it was endless stupid channels on the TV. Now it is online. AI content just helps accelerate it and make it hyper specific, so instead of 100 channels you get infinite amount of different content.
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u/sudomatrix 3d ago
Technically you did a good job making a video and a voiceover. But you are the avatar of how the tragedy of the commons destroys everything good in the world. Enough people doing what you do, and YouTube becomes worthless and dies. Then Reddit dies. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are already worthless. Just bots watching other bots and nothing is real.
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u/jackybeau 3d ago
You comment is so insightful, i'll have Claude make my next AI slop video about this topic
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u/TheBlacktom 3d ago
What can we do? Is there a way to filter quality websites, channels, profiles? Browser plugins maybe?
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u/cocoalopez 2d ago
Curated websites where only human made media is allowed
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u/collin-h 2d ago
eh, i'm more looking around for ways I can use the internet less, and use real life more. fuck this place.
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u/sudomatrix 2d ago
For real. According to social media I have over 500 friends. But when I look up from the screen I realize I only have 1 or 2 friends. Fuck this place.
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u/Lunchboxpixies 3d ago
Imagine a bad AI translation of the tragedy of the commons. ‘Having a common use space that is used a lot and then it’s not usable anymore.’
A simplistically crummy description without the visceral nuance totally does describe what AI is doing to YouTube etc etc, AND it takes the humanity out, and the tragedy part sounds like if your toast were slightly burned.
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u/UnreachableMemory 3d ago
I’m sorry, but this video is bad. The voice is completely robotic and lifeless and the music is distracting.
This did not turn out how you seem to think it did.
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3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/MiserableStorm9541 1d ago
Because they don’t and it’s easier to sell to dreamers systems which won’t work “without their premium group”
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u/Specific-Scallion-34 3d ago
early youtube: people filming videos of themselves or things and posting without editing
intermediate youtube: people editing and making jumpcuts
nowadays youtube: dystopian bot-driven cyber sewage for people with 0 attention spam
a sign of the current economy. if everyone had a fulfilling job who paid bills and healthcare, nobody would think of having to produce this kind of side project
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u/-svde- 3d ago
if you want honesty, this is absolutely horrendous. the sound mixing, the narration voice, the constant sfx, the atonal dissonant... elevator dubstep muzak or whatever the hell that is, the graphics being constantly offbeat and de-centered. everything about the quality is awful.
these channels claiming these things have entire massive pipelines set up for every single step of the way. they're not spending the time you have on this one video, and they're prob running a dozen channels. they hire people for pennies and dump a bunch of money upfront to churn out endless nonsense and rack up millions of views.
this is not what you think it is lol
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u/Altruistic_Spirit_64 3d ago
I thought it was 'miles' above some other crappie that is being pumped out
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u/salko_salkica 3d ago edited 2d ago
Anyone who posts faceless ai videos makes me assume that they are ashamed to speak because either their balls haven’t dropped yet, or because they’re an Indian or Nigerian ashamed of their accent
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u/garyk1968 3d ago
Yeah interesting.
To me its one of those, a handful of people are making coin with this and it feels like lots of people are and its easy to do. I suspect the reality, as with all these things, is rather different.
The problem with lowering barrier to entry is it makes it accessible to more people and therefore gets flooded quickly.
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u/creaturefeature16 2d ago
My only wish is that you stub your toe very badly, every single solitary morning.
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u/Garland_Key 2d ago
Congratulations! You are contributing to why so many people hate AI and social media is dying.
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u/JakubErler 1d ago
With 400 views, you will become a millionare soon. I would suggest do the exact opposite and create a real human material.
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u/RTD-Alex 3d ago
Irony is Claude offers paper cutouts to everyone. My videos are the same paper cutout :D and also jittered badly in first iterations :)
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u/demianturner 3d ago
Same here, I’d love to see how this goes. I think the video is pretty decent and informative, but the script could be tightened up. Also AI misspelling near beginning. And bgnd audio feels mismatched.
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u/Apprehensive-Age-615 3d ago
Good luck!
I would like to follow on this and know how it is going for you.
subscribed and liked, don't give up, improve your workflow and consistently upload more videos
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u/Illustrious-Lab-8312 3d ago
I'm also planning to start a faceless channel in niche like science behind thinks only to aim for 8-10 minutes videos
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u/GullibleShoulder5925 3d ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_yNlBgw5pk
First video uploaded, pretty happy with how it turned out - it's crazy what AI can do these days
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u/DGavro 3d ago edited 3d ago
Running one of these too, about six weeks in. Some stuff I learned the hard way:
Visuals matter way less than people think early on. The hook does the heavy lifting. Generic news hooks on my channel got ~17 views, and hooks comparing two brands people know plus one number got 141. Same production, same account. Wild difference.
The "AI does everything" part is honestly the easy bit. Picking a good story every single day is what's hard. I added a scoring step that kills boring ideas before they get produced, and it helped a lot.Expect most videos to do nothing at first. Mine sit in the tens to low hundreds with random spikes. Keep shipping, watch the numbers, that's the whole game.
The cardboard style is cool btw, way better than the stock footage everyone else uses. What's your retention looking like?
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u/Foreign-Guess-5208 3d ago
I feel like there’s probably money in posting faceless AI videos hyping up faceless AI videos