A recent change sees YouTube cracking down further on AI by clarifying its policies on how content on its platform can be monetized. To discourage creators from using artificial intelligence and other tools to create low-quality content, YouTube’s policy now explains that there are three types of videos in the broader category of “inauthentic content” that cannot be monetized.

YouTube already had policies on AI content. Last year, the company announced that it was curbing creators’ ability to generate revenue from what it called “inauthentic content,” including mass-produced videos and other types of repetitive content that have become easier to generate with the help of artificial intelligence technology.

Rather, the recent update aims to add more nuance to existing policies.

The updated guidelines divide inauthentic content into three categories, including generic, repetitive or template-based content, followed by unpleasant or distressing content, and then any content where AI people are used to discuss sensitive topics, such as health and finances.

While the decline of AI, like adult content, is a bit of a “you’ll know it when you see it” situation for many, YouTube’s policies are intended to spell out more specifically when the use of AI is or is not permitted in the creation of content for videos that are monetized through its YouTube Partner Program (YPP).

The program, which allows creators to earn money through advertising and subscriptions, is the lifeblood of YouTube; Allowing it to be filled with AI scraps or other low-quality fare would not be in the company’s financial interests. This is especially important since YouTube competes closely with television and other streamers for television advertising dollars. Google’s video platform now generates more advertising revenue than rival streaming services and has surpassed Netflix in average daily views worldwide.

As YouTube’s head of trust and safety, Matt Halprin, explained in a Creator Insider video last week, the company’s goal with its policy review is to reduce content farming efforts, a reference to low-quality videos that exist solely to generate revenue.

“AI can allow people to make a lot of videos,” Halprin said. “Sometimes those videos are fantastic and really enhance creativity. Plus, you can create a greater volume of high-quality content that we want to encourage and have on the YPP.”

“But that same exact new tool can allow you to make a lot of videos very quickly that are very similar. They’re very generic and don’t really have a narrative arc and don’t really show off your creativity. So the same technology really allows for cool things, but it also allows for things that are kind of content farming, and those are the things we don’t want to have at YPP,” Halprin added.

The first category, he said, includes repetitive content, such as material that can be easily created with AI, computer-generated imagery (CGI), or templates, with little variation from video to video. This fills a channel with original videos. Halprin notes that tutorial videos could also be subject to this policy if they reproduce content that is already prevalent on the platform, rather than being original.

The second category focuses on what YouTube calls “disgusting” content, or content designed to be distressing or emotionally manipulative to chase views. This could include videos showing an animal in distress, which someone then comes and rescues, Halprin said.

“We’ve heard from our viewers that that’s not something they like. They find it unpleasant. They don’t want to go back to that channel, or maybe even the platform,” Halprin said.

Channels dedicated to this content will be removed from the YPP, regardless of whether the content is AI-generated or not.

The third segment addresses more directly the use of AI characters: representations of real people created with AI. YouTube says it does not want to incentivize creators who use AI characters to discuss more sensitive topics, such as finances, legal issues, healthcare, and medical issues.

Any YouTube channel that has too much content of any of these three types will not be able to monetize it, Halprin said. The policy clarifications were implemented on July 16 and affect all members of the YouTube Partner Program.