A shark in sneakers or a bomber crocodile: the 'Italian brainiac' videos that are captivating young people
A new trend has exploded on TikTok and other social media platforms: it's called brainrot , and it combines the absurd, the hypnotic, and the artificially generated . If you've recently seen a half-animal, half-bomber crocodile speaking Italian or a shark running like a sprinter on your feed , you know what we're talking about.
These videos— colorful, chaotic, and deliberately tacky —aren't just jokes. They're created with AI tools that combine image generation, voice synthesis, and automated editing to create a sensory overload effect. The result: millions of addicted teens and experts who are starting to worry.
Grotesque aesthetics, impossible characters, and AI-generated videos have become an addictive (and disturbing) form of entertainment for millions of young people.
On TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube Shorts, there's a parallel universe that's constantly growing. It's home to characters like Bombardiro Crocodilo, a reptile with the body of a military aircraft that drops bombs from the sky; and Saturno Vaca Saturnita, a cow with the body of our neighboring planet; and Tralalero Tralalá, an anthropomorphic shark that runs like an Olympic sprinter while a distorted Italian voice plays. And Tung Tung Sahur, a humanoid bat that carries another bat in its hand. They are the protagonists of brainrot , a viral phenomenon that combines artificial intelligence, meme culture, and deliberately absurd aesthetics to captivate the viewer in a few seconds.
These types of videos, which seem like something out of a hallucinogenic nightmare, are not a passing fad. There's a clear logic behind them: harnessing the potential of generative AI to create massive, visually stunning, and emotionally stimulating content . A new form of entertainment designed to overwhelm the senses and conquer social media algorithms.
As we mentioned, most of these videos are partially or entirely generated by artificial intelligence. Tools like Midjourney and DALL·E are used to create distorted images, voice-over apps for voiceovers, and automatic editors to assemble everything in a vertical format, ready for TikTok or Instagram Reels. Many videos are barely 15 seconds long , but that's enough to garner millions of views.
In this universe, there's no logic, but there is structure. Characters with outlandish names are created, stories of clan conflicts are invented, and even delirious family trees have been generated with kinship relationships between sharks, space cows, or strippers made of fried eggs . It's a kind of collective fan fiction , fueled by adolescent creativity and the power of generative AI.
"Brainrot"—a term that could be translated as "rotten brain"—is a category of short videos characterized by their chaotic aesthetic, incoherent narrative, and their ability to engage through bewilderment. The garish colors, automated voices, retro filters, and constant repetition aren't there by chance: everything is designed to exploit the attention spans of young people.
Although it all seems like a pointless joke, Italian brainstorming is also a business, as pointed out in an article in elDiario . Creators organize themselves on Discord servers where they share templates, audio, prompts , and visual effects . Some generate content en masse to accumulate views and monetize through the platforms. Others launch NFTs, sell merchandise , or leverage their virality to open indirect revenue channels.
Instagram and TikTok favor these types of videos because they generate retention and spread like wildfire, reaching thousands of users. The stranger the video, the more reactions . And the more interactions, the greater the reach. It's the perfect formula for exploiting the attention model that dominates today's digital economy.
What effects does it have on the adolescent brain?The success of BrainRot has put mental health experts on alert, warning of its potential impact on children and adolescents . It's not just the content that's worrying, but the form as well. The frenetic pace, lack of narrative structure, and constant stimulation can interfere with concentration, cause mental fatigue, and lead to an addiction to infinite scrolling .
The Spanish Society of Neurology (SEN) has issued warnings about the impact of excessive social media use on the brain development of children and adolescents . According to a report by this organization , excessive viewing of short videos on platforms like Instagram or TikTok can reduce concentration, memory, decision-making, and creativity.
Furthermore, in children and adolescents, this type of consumption has been observed to alter neurodevelopment in aspects such as affect, impulse control, language, and learning ability.
There's also some debate about the desensitization these videos cause, as they normalize extreme ugliness, symbolic violence , or absurdity without context. While many teens see them as simple digital satire, adults don't always know how to interpret them—or how to set limits.
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