YouTuber Hank Green apologizes for AI chatbot reliance, will slow down video output

Hank Green, a novelist, comedian, and YouTuber with 3.2 million subscribers, has publicly apologized for his increasing reliance on AI chatbots. The controversy began when he unexpectedly used the phrase 'I appreciate the pushback' during a video on the educational channel Complexly. Viewers speculated that he had written the script using a chatbot and had accidentally left in its response to one of his prompts.

In a since-deleted post on X, Green acknowledged that he had produced the video under significant pressure and had used ChatGPT for research on the script. However, he clarified that the 'pushback' line was actually his response to the episode's guest. Later, he offered a more detailed apology on Reddit, saying he was 'mortified' and felt he had let many people down. As a result, he plans to reduce his video output.

Green insisted that his use of ChatGPT was limited to locating papers and resources for learning, and that the words and opinions expressed in his videos were still his own. Still, he conceded that critics were right to accuse him of 'diluting' himself. He also noted that he is not entirely against AI, but he listed several concerns, including its impact on climate change and the speed at which tech companies are trying to consolidate economic power.

'Ultimately, what I am most scared of is ruining myself for people, but I have not been managing my impulses well,' Green wrote. 'You need to know that my words are mine.' He acknowledged that his creative process had become so fast that even he wasn't sure of it, and he wants to make that a guarantee going forward.

To achieve this, Green says he will pause or post less frequently on his various YouTube channels. He intends to focus on more meditative videos where the writing itself is the core, and also make more unscripted, straight-to-camera videos. But he admitted that the level of dopamine he gets from interacting with large language models is 'not healthy' for him or the world. 'It is careless, and has disconnected me from where people are on this,' he said.