The line between acceptable and reprimandable AI use is blurrier than ever, and popular science YouTuber Hank Green is trying to navigate it amid a groundswell of public scrutiny.
But not even social media users know entirely where they stand.
In a recent video posted to Complexly, the nonprofit behind Green’s popular shows like CrashCourse and SciShow, users noticed strange phrasing that led them to question if AI was used in the video’s production.
The line was simple—”I appreciate the pushback”—but it spawned speculation on whether the phrase might have been an AI prompt response left behind.
Green wouldn’t be the first public figure caught in the act, with a Canadian politician just last month going viral for reading a an LLM prompt response during a speech.
Green quickly caught wind of the discourse and decided to set the record clear, explaining that he does, in fact, use AI during his research process to surface research papers and sources.
Still, he confirmed that the phrase was not a prompt response.
“I did use ChatGPT for research on this script and watching it I definitely get an AI feel, so I think its fair to say I was relying too much on generated notes,” Green said in a now deleted tweet. “That particular moment was an ad lib in response to my guest pushing back on me saying that words are purely made up.”
Rather than slowing down the discourse, Green’s admission instead led more users to voice their disapproval.
“i am so disappointed. someone like hank green – the hank green i knew – would be the last person i’d ever imagine using ai like this,” a user who self-identified as a NerdFighter—or a fan of the Green brothers—said on X. (Green’s brother is best-selling author John Green.)
Another user added, “finding out hank green, the guy responsible for teaching me so much science and history and research whose whole thing was using credible sources, is now using chatgpt for ‘research’ is so deeply saddening.”
Following the backlash, Green took to Reddit to once again address the situation, this time with an apology, something users online have said to be a kind of “self-canceling.“
“I’m mortified that I have let so many people down and I think I understand how that happened,” Green wrote in a Reddit discussion about his tweet.
He added, “I’m going to change things about how i make stuff,” and said that he will be posting less on his personal channel and may need “ for a while.”
Much like his initial address, the apology did not help quiet down the discourse, which was still a trending topic on Threads well into Monday.
Still, the less-than-welcoming reaction to Green’s apology has sparked an entirely different conversation on social media about what is and isn’t acceptable AI use—and who can and can’t use it—particularly among a public fatigued by AI slop.
“There’s this weird thing where some creators can happily use AI and talk about AI and their fans seem totally fine with it, and other creators would be ritualistically flayed alive by their own communities if it ever came out they had once glanced at an AI output,” one user said on X. “And it seems really arbitrary which camp is which.”