‘PDF to brainrot’ tools are bringing TikTok visuals to Gen Alpha’s academics

If you’ve never heard the term “skibidi” or “sigma,” congratulations, your brain is not yet rotted. Brainrot is a term used to describe low-quality internet content and the effects of spending too much time consuming it. Otherwise known as, being terminally online. However, several AI-based study tools are putting it to good use. 

The “PDF to brainrot” sees the text of a document read by an automated voice-over as “oddly satisfying videos, such as ASMR clips of mixing paint and cutting soap, or gameplay footage from ">Minecraft and ">Subway Surfers.” These types of accounts rack up millions of followers, drawing viewers in with the oddly relaxing and repetitive footage. AI-based study tools are now capitalizing on this trend, with students using text-to-speech programs that read aloud their textbooks to them while they stay focused by watching these mindless videos. 

Companies including Coconote and StudyRot are now letting users turn their study guides into brainrot videos, catering to the short attention spans of Gen Alpha. Some even translate the material into Gen Alpha slang (if you’ve ever wanted to know if Abraham Lincoln had rizz or Christopher Columbus was a sigma male, now’s your chance to find out).

According to TikTok, these PDF-to-brainrot generators are now appearing in classrooms. “Resorting to the TikTok method for teaching,” one teacher posted, as Temple Run plays on the whiteboard behind her. “Is this actually what college has become,” another creator asks, as she shows the brainrot video assigned by her professor. However, as TechCrunch identified, when you look closer at the creator’s page, every video she’s posted appears to be undisclosed Coconote ads, begging the question, if this trend is really a trend at all or just thinly veiled sponsored content.

Whether creators are really using brainrot videos to study and teachers are actually playing Subway Surfers videos during their lectures still remains to be seen. However, if it helps Gen Alpha get their homework done then that counts as a win.


https://www.fastcompany.com/91235324/pdf-to-brainrot-tools-are-bringing-tiktok-visuals-to-gen-alphas-academics?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss

Vytvorené 3mo | 23. 11. 2024, 1:10:07


Ak chcete pridať komentár, prihláste sa

Ostatné príspevky v tejto skupine

How ‘lore’ became the internet’s favorite way to overshare

Lore isn’t just for games like The Elder Scrolls or films like The Lord of the Rings—online, it has evolved into something entirely new.

The Old English word made the s

24. 2. 2025, 13:20:04 | Fast company - tech
These LinkedIn comedians are leaning into the cringe for clout

Ben Sweeny, the salesman-turned-comedian behind that online persona Corporate Sween, says that bosses should waterboard their employees. 

“Some companies drown their employees with

24. 2. 2025, 10:50:08 | Fast company - tech
The best apps to find new books

This article is republished with permission from Wonder Tools, a newsletter that helps you discover the most useful sites and apps. 

24. 2. 2025, 6:20:05 | Fast company - tech
5 tips for mastering virtual communication

Andrew Brodsky is a management professor at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. He is also CEO of Ping Group and has received nume

23. 2. 2025, 11:50:03 | Fast company - tech
Apple’s hidden white noise feature may be just the productivity boost you need

As I write this, the most pleasing sound is washing over me—gentle waves ebbing and flowing onto the shore. Sadly, I’m not actually on some magnificent tropical beach. Instead, the sounds of the s

22. 2. 2025, 12:40:06 | Fast company - tech
The next wave of AI is here: Autonomous AI agents are amazing—and scary

The relentless hype around AI makes it difficult to separate the signal from the

22. 2. 2025, 12:40:05 | Fast company - tech
This slick new service puts ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Wikipedia on the map

I don’t know about you, but I tend to think about my favorite tech tools as being split into two separate saucepans: the “classic” apps we’ve known and relied on for ages and then the newer “AI” a

22. 2. 2025, 12:40:03 | Fast company - tech