YouTube star Hank Green sets new AI policy for himself — and urges other content creators to do the same

Hank Green, the popular content creator and YouTube star, announced a new AI policy for himself on Friday — and encouraged others to do the same.

In a video posted to the Vlogbrothers YouTube channel that he shares with his brother, author and creator John Green, Green addressed the apology he made last week about "relying too heavily on AI" for research.

"This all started because I said I needed to realign the way I use LLMs. I have thought a lot about that this week. I'd become too reliant on them for advice, for editing, and for sourcing," Green said in the video. "So I'm creating an AI policy for myself."

He outlined "The Hank Green AI Policy" as follows:

1. No portion of any script will be written, edited, or outlined by an LLM.
2. The thesis of a video will always originate with a human.
3. No image or music in a video will be generated by AI. If something is accidentally included, best efforts will be made to remove it.

Green also encouraged other content creators to make an AI policy for themselves.

"It doesn't even have to be public. Just have it. I wish I had had it," he said.

After criticism from some fans over his use of AI, Green apologized to his audience in a Reddit comment last week and said he would slow down or pause some of his projects. He said he'd pause the daily word games he produces, SMUSH and 4x3, and would post less on his Hankschannel YouTube page.

In his latest video, Green said he'd been "so enticed by LLMs" that he was using them to start and research many different projects, all at the same time."

"The more time I spent with it, the more every problem was starting to look like an LLM-shaped problem," he said. "And that's dumb."

Green also apologized to the employees at Complexly, a nonprofit founded by the Green brothers, who help produce some of their most popular YouTube shows, like SciShow and CrashCourse. He said Complexly already had an AI policy and defended the work it had produced.

"Whatever reputational hit or loss of trust I have brought upon myself here, that's mine to take and try to earn back," he said.

Green said he plans to slow down his content production and be more "choosy" about the opportunities he pursues.

"Making more things does not make me make better things," he said. "And people need to be able to absolutely trust that my takes are my takes — which they are."

Green and Complexly did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.