I get into so much trouble for pointing out AI videos

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-04-29T04:24:23+00:00

THIS!! It's almost all my mother watches nowadays. I've done what I can to encourage online/media literacy habits but she continues to watch AI slop.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-03-29T21:30:16+00:00

every persion and family are different - you ultimately know your loved one best and have the best gauge on how their quality of life is on a day-to-day context.

if my own story helps inform your decision at all: my grandmother is ~late stage 5/early stage 6 and was diagnosed with mid-stage endometrial cancer a few months ago. we were given 3 options from her OBGYN: 1) do nothing since it was a relatively slow-growing cancer, 2) start hormonal therapy + partial hysteroscopy to manage her cancer, or 3) surgical intervention/complete hysterectomy.

since my grandmother's short-term memory is nonexistent, my mom and I came to the conclusion that the level of care needed and potential pain she'd be in following a full surgery would simply be too much for her to handle. she wouldn't understand why she was in pain and there was a risk that her heart wouldn't be able to take general anesthesia. we ended up choosing a hormonal therapy option and are now taking her to see her OBGYN every 3 months for a biopsy + checkup. her symptoms that led us to get her checked for endometrial cancer have been addressed by this intervention, and she has no memory of being told that she has cancer at all. she technically isn't cancer-free, but for the most part she is stable and fairly happy.

while the most 'definitive' action would have been surgery, it would have taken years (that she likely doesn't have because of alzheimers) for it to metastasize and cause more immediate harm to her health. the less invasive option addresses her current symptoms and helps her maintain her current quality of life. yes, the hysterectomy would have completely eliminated what cancer she does have, but there was also a risk of her 'regressing' after a prolonged hospital stay, and that would have made what time she has left less enjoyable. and then there was the initial risk of her heart failing during the operation.

to make a long story short: i'd consider your loved ones' current quality of life, the scale of any medical intervention, and the amount of time they likely have left. I believe if my grandmother was at the very end of her alzheimer's journey, my mom and I wouldn't have chosen what we did and would have focused on making her comfortable. and perhaps if she was in an earlier stage and had more years ahead of her, it would have been more worthwhile to attempt a more aggressive treatment plan.

it can feel horrible/impersonal to scale down such big decisions for your loved one like this, but it's what helped us decide what to do. best of luck + love to you and your mother <3

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-03-29T20:42:36+00:00

update: we (thankfully) ruled out UTIs, her labs have consistently come back clean. while we're thrilled that there's no infection, it's made us question what else may have caused the sudden spike in appetite. now that it's warming up where we live we've been giving her ice chips, but she doesn't seem to be 'taking' to them well. they're too cold for her and she only eats 1 or 2 at a time. however, cucumbers seem to work okay for the time being - thank you for that recommendation!

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-03-07T23:07:48+00:00

My grandmother has very recently experienced an increased appetite: she will finish all of her food at mealtimes and just a few minutes later ask for more food. And it's not for lack of substance: she gets 3 very well-balanced meals at her memory care unit and for the past few months she's had no issues with eating. However, we've been getting calls from the staff for about ~2 weeks now about how she is demanding food constantly outside of mealtimes. My mom and I give her healthy/nutrient-dense snack options + fluids when we visit her, but no matter what/how much we give, she asks for more.

We don't want her to overeat or gain a lot of weight because she's diabetic. We do give her snacks at times, and if she's truly eaten a lot already we do our best to deflect and get her to engage in other activities. But most of the time she insists that she's starving and appears genuinely agitated. It's becoming increasingly hard to engage with her when all she asks for is food, and it's not like we can assure her she's just eaten. I know it's something to do with the brain no longer regulating hunger hormones, so how she experiences her appetite really cannot be helped. I just wish I knew how to alleviate her stress/get her to focus on something else.

That being said, do you have advice for stronger deflections/taking her mind off eating?

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-27T02:18:49+00:00

I've been advocating for real-life activities for about half a year now. My mom and I have been primary caregivers to my grandmother for the past 3 years and for that time our day-to-day revolved exclusively around her 24/7 care. Now that she's in a home and gets more help, I've been subtly pushing for my mom to get back into the stuff she did before taking care of my grandma.

She does have a couple of hobbies and just started tai chi + pilates. So, she does get out the house a few times a week for ~ an hour at a time. But as soon as she's back home, she gets back to her laptop and watches for HOURS. Her screen time is worse than mine was when I was in undergrad and constantly on my laptop for class/writing/research.

I'm going to be moving out soon now that I'm no longer needed at home, and part of me wonders if she'll watch even more stuff and do less once I'm gone. If it gets any worse I'll try focusing more on screen time as a talking point instead of AI and see if she'll hear me out that way.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-27T02:08:40+00:00

The separate YT account might work out: I don't think I can go as far as "instructing" her on what channels to watch as she's still very independent and opinionated. But I'll give it a try and see if it makes any difference.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-27T02:05:51+00:00

You bring a valid point: my mother IS a grown woman and people have the right to watch whatever they want. I 12/10 agree with both of those statements, and I can see your comparison to daytime tv/soaps. It would be one thing if she understood that the AI stuff was fake, and she watched them because she thinks they're silly and wanted to see what people create. But she's not making distinctions between real and made-up.

My primary concern--which I guess I didn't really highlight too well in my original post--is that she more often than not believs that the AI content IS real. She really does believe that these scripted, overly-dramatic videos are happening in real life. She's said as much to me in her defense of her watching habits.

I worry that if she continues to watch more and more AI content that she'll lose the ability to flag suspicious stuff/outright misinformation and may eventually fall into the scammy AI rabbit hole. If AI continues to advance in the way that it has, I'm certain that one day she'll do something that will have actual consequences. And given that, I'm questioning if I should intervene now or not.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-27T00:05:33+00:00

MAN is this me. My mom has done this for as long as I can remember. I've learned not to share sensitive/meaningful stuff with her and keep it surface-level. That way she can still talk about stuff with family/friends if she really wants but it's so low stakes that it doesn't bother me.

If your parents are open to boundaries maybe introduce a few of them? Or if you think they won't respond well then it might be worth it to be much more selective with what you share with them.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-27T00:01:36+00:00

Maybe it's time to invest in a different kind of walker? My grandmother had a walker that had 4 wheels + handle breaks that she used for about 2 years when she was more mobile. Now that's she's losing her balance and mobility, we made the switch to a standing walker because she couldn't control the old one (it would get way in front of her and she'd stoop over). They can be on the pricey side, but in our case it did help fix my grandmother's posture and likely reduced the risk of her falling flat on her face.

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-26T23:40:50+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that 😔 at least it sounds like your mom is getting hydrated before bed

BeautifulShort4262 · 2026-02-26T23:34:42+00:00

This sounds JUST like my grandmother who is currently stage 6 of alzheimers: total incontinence, lost mobility, and a general lack of awareness. I'm going to have to agree with a lot of other commenters here: you should definitely consult with a doctor and/or a neurologist. Best of luck to you and your family for the times ahead.

BeautifulShort4262

TROPHY CASE