‘PDF to Brainrot’ study tools are a strange iteration on a TikTok trend | TechCrunch

Several AI-based study tools are capitalizing on a “PDF to Brainrot” trend, which will read the text of a document you upload over “oddly satisfying” videos, like ASMR clips of mixing paint and cutting soap, or gameplay footage from Minecraft and Subway Surfers. Then students can listen to an automated voice read their textbooks to them while they watch these vertical videos, which people on TikTok often refer to as “brainrot” material.

On TikTok, these videos of simple, yet engaging gameplay and ASMR are weirdly popular. But it’s not just aimless Minecraft parkour; they’re overlaid with monotone, computer-like voices reading dramatic stories, usually sourced from Reddit, about things like an adopted adult reuniting with his biological parents. These accounts rack up millions of followers, drawing viewers in with the bizarrely relaxing and repetitive footage.

That’s why companies and web tools like Coconote, Study Fetch, StudyRot, Memenome, Shortspilot, Grademaxx, and more are spinning up “PDF to Brainrot” generators — if these videos are so popular on TikTok, maybe students will pay to make them as study tools.

Some tools, like StudyRot, are also trained to translate text into Gen Z slang (you can choose from voices like “Sam Sigma,” “Gabi Gyatt,” or “Sara Skibidi,” referring to somewhat meaningless words that are popular among young people who spend a lot of time online). But giving the AI too much liberty to manipulate the source text is probably not a great study strategy, since you might end up with inaccurate summations; did Odysseus really have rizz, or was he a sigma male? (Plus, uploading content to AI tools that are not explicit about whether they might train on that data is generally not a good idea.)

The sheer quantity of tools that exist to do this is impressive, but the marketing behind some of these tools is suspicious. When tech products are targeting people on TikTok with brainrot content, naturally they’re going to post promotional videos on TikTok. But sometimes the creators who appear to be organically promoting these AI products aren’t actually real creators but dedicated accounts that don’t indicate their affiliation with the product.

One creator posted a video about how her teacher told the class to upload their readings into Coconote’s brainrot tool. The video got 1 million views and appears genuine, but when you look at that creator’s page, every video she’s posted appears to be undisclosed Coconote sponcon. Study Fetch also has multiple creators who only seem to post about the app’s AI tools and don’t disclose if they are being paid to share these tips or not; some other accounts exclusively promote a tool called Feynman AI, which doesn’t seem to have a brainrot feature but follows a similar trend of appearing in undisclosed advertisements. These accounts generally don’t have many followers, since they don’t appear illegitimate, but that doesn’t matter if one viral TikTok can make a difference and get viewers to check out the paid app study app.

There are some creators on TikTok who actually have found a niche in posting study tips to help fellow students get through high school or college. These kinds of accounts date back to the early 2010s on Tumblr, where “studyblr” blogs would share SAT tips and inspirational images of their color-coded history outlines. But the real “studytok” makes it easier for the dubious accounts to camouflage, appearing genuine when their videos show up on students’ For You pages.

Are these creators really using brainrot videos to study? Are teachers actually playing Subway Surfers videos during their lectures to get students to pay attention? Sometimes a TikTok trend is not actually the trend itself, but rather, the reactions to the trend. Remember when the FDA was warning us not to eat NyQuil-infused chicken, when no one was actually eating NyQuil chicken?

For some students, PDF to brainrot tools might actually be helpful — the concept is similar to how it might be easier to go on a walk and listen to news podcasts, as opposed to just reading the news. Sometimes it’s easier for people to focus when we’re occupied by two things, rather than just one. But when it comes to the popularity of these videos on TikTok, maybe the real brainrot isn’t the Minecraft parkour, but instead these thinly veiled advertisements for AI tools.