Popular YouTube content creator Hank Green is pulling back from making YouTube videos over what he calls an "unhealthy" relationship with the AI he uses for research.
Green makes science, AI, and comedy videos and has over 3 million YouTube subscribers. He's known for authentic, science-driven content, so when fans noticed some of his scripts seemed a little stilted, and in one case seemed to contain elements of an AI prompt, they called foul.
Although Green says he did not use AI in scriptwriting, he admits to using it to find sources. In a more in-depth reply to fans on Reddit, however, Green dug deeper into his use of AI and said he'd been feeling pressure to release more videos, and that AI had helped him accelerate the process so he could get more ideas out there.
"You are still getting my takes based on what I read, know, and learn," he wrote. "But mostly I need to come to terms with the fact that the level of dopamine I've been getting from interacting with LLMs...with doing more and more and more and more...is not healthy for me or good for the world. It is careless, and has disconnected me from where people are on this."
In talking with his wife and brother about it, they "did not pull any punches," suggesting that neither thought he was using it in a healthy manner.
Green will pull back from releasing as many videos and pausing other projects he's been working on with AI assistance. He also apologized for any harm he'd caused the community.
Green is certainly not the first person to use AI in problematic ways. Some have found it triggers episodes of psychosis, self-harm, or suicide. There are many threads online from developers who are drowning in their own use of AI, too. There's also the concern that using AI can atrophy the skills you offload to it; Green describes not wanting to "dilute" himself.