MrBeast, the most-subscribed YouTube creator, has tapped into concerns about the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI) and its impact on content creators' livelihoods.
Despite experimenting with AI himself, he took to social media to warn that AI-generated videos could threaten the careers of real creators.
"Scary times," he posted, noting uncertainty over the proliferation of generative AI in entertainment.
AI's Rapid Rise and Its Disruption in the Creator Economy
MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, currently tops Forbes' 2025 list of highest-earning creators, earning $85 million and amassing over 634 million followers. With such immense influence, his opinions carry significant weight within the creator community. If someone as successful as him is alarmed by the rise of AI, smaller creators, who depend heavily on originality and genuine connection, have even more reason to be concerned.
According to Business Insider, his comments followed the recent launch of OpenAI's Sora 2, a powerful AI audio and video generator that also introduced a mobile app where users can create AI videos, including digital versions of themselves. The app quickly became a hit, topping the U.S. App Store charts after millions of downloads.
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YouTube's Push For AI Tools and Its Effect on Creativity
At the same time, YouTube has been integrating AI completely into its platform. The firm launched tools permitting creators to bring still images to life, add AI styles to videos, and even automatically create clips from livestreams or podcasts.
YouTube's AI chatbot also offers creators instantaneous answers within YouTube Studio, which assists in streamlining their workflow, but others fear it might render true creativity redundant.
Despite these developments, numerous creators contend that AI technology might contribute to an oversaturation of "synthetic" videos that fail to convey authenticity or emotion. Audiences already criticize AI-made content as "low-quality slop," questioning whether the technology may ever be able to serve as a replacement for human storytelling.
MrBeast's Complicated Relationship With AI
Ironically, MrBeast has also had experience with AI. This past year, he made an AI-generated thumbnail creator available through his analytics tool, Viewstats. But when both artists and fans criticized him, he promptly took the tool away and replaced it with links to available human designers for hire. His charitable business has also experimented with AI investments, indicating that while he sees the value in AI, he is cautious about its abuse.
AI tools can streamline the daily tasks we do, but they should not entirely replace humans. Even the "Godfather" of AI, Geoffrey Hinton, knows that there's only a little chance for AI to drive humans to extinction. Don't fear the AI's capabilities, but fear if it will be used in wrongful ways.
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