Hank Green’s ChatGPT apology comes with fewer videos and paused games
Hank Green said AI-assisted research had become a bad habit, while denying ChatGPT wrote the video segment that sparked backlash.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
3 min read
Hank Green’s ChatGPT apology came with a reset button: the veteran science creator said he has leaned too hard on AI for research, plans to cut back his video output and will pause two online word games.
In a July 31 Reddit response, Green apologized to viewers and said his growing reliance on large language models was “not healthy for me or good for the world,” according to Mashable and Business Insider. He said the tools had helped him find academic papers and other resources quickly, but had also hurt his ability to find his own routes into a subject.
Did Hank Green say ChatGPT wrote the disputed video segment?
No. Green said he used ChatGPT in preliminary research for the script, but denied that it wrote or fact-checked the segment at the center of the criticism. Complexly, the educational media company Green founded with his brother John, gave the same account in an Aug. 1 statement reported by Mashable.
The flare-up followed an Ask Hank Anything episode featuring TikTok creator Soupytime. Viewers zeroed in on Green saying, “I appreciate the pushback,” a phrase some associated with chatbot replies, and speculated it had been generated by ChatGPT.
Green said in a since-deleted X post that the line was an ad-lib tied to an earlier disagreement with Soupytime, not language in his notes or script. Still, he accepted the broader criticism, writing that he had been relying too much on generated notes while overcommitting himself, Mashable reported.
Complexly’s stated policy allows limited AI use for preliminary research but bars it from writing, editing or fact-checking videos, according to the company’s statement. The organization said Green’s use in this case was confined to preliminary research.
What is Hank Green changing after the AI backlash?
Green said viewers should expect less from Hankschannel, his personal YouTube account. The channel may pause for a time or return with fewer videos, Business Insider reported.
He also said he would pause SMUSH and 4x3, two daily online word games he produces. Green framed the changes as an effort to slow the pace that had made his own creative process less clear to him.
Green said he does not reject AI outright and acknowledged that people may disagree over its use. But he cited concerns about how AI models are trained, their climate effects and the concentration of economic power among AI companies, Mashable reported.
His main promise to viewers was about authorship. Green said audiences should be able to know that his words are his own, and apologized for what he called “diluting” himself and damaging the work built with his community, according to Business Insider.
This story draws on original reporting from Mashable.