Why is MrBeast facing backlash for his $80 per month AI tool? Controversy explored

YouTube star Jimmy "MrBeast" has become embroiled in a controversy after the launch of his AI tool, which allows content creators to create customized images that could serve as thumbnails for their YouTube videos.

In a video showcasing the tool, MrBeast was heard hailing the tool as a way to create thumbnails without utilizing Adobe Photoshop or similar photo-editing software, thus supposedly making the process much more streamlined for content creators.

He stated:

"There is a new way to make professional-looking viral thumbnail with zero Photoshop experience, and the best part is, this new method works in every niche, whether they do gaming, cooking, beauty, this works for all of those. From creating custom results from any channel to literally being able to put your face on a thumbnail, it literally feels like cheating."

However, this new product by MrBeast has left many netizens unimpressed, with many bemoaning the membership price of the "Pro + AI" plan, which currently stands at $79.99 per month, alongside other ethical concerns related to the utilization of AI technology.

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MrBeast faces backlash online after launch of his $80 AI thumbnail creation tool

As previously mentioned, MrBeast's new AI tool aims to give content creators the power to use AI to create highly customizable thumbnails with minimal effort and no photo editing experience. The thumbnails created by the tool can be of a variety of styles and depict different scenarios based on the prompts given by the user.

Further, the tool, which is available on his website, Viewstats, can utilize pre-existing thumbnails from videos on YouTube as "inspiration" to generate a new thumbnail with the customized changes added in, including options for a face swap as well. Within the aforementioned video, MrBeast stated;

"This is the home of the AI tool where you can type in any channel on all of YouTube, and it'll use it as inspiration for the thumbnail it's generating. For example, let's say you're MrBeast. You would just type in MrBeast here. Now, it's going to look at all my recent videos and get inspiration from them."

Further, MrBeast explained how the AI tool can also generate thumbnails using prompts, or a detailed description of the content desired within the thumbnail, without the use of any external aid. Further, it offers an option to change aspects of a particular thumbnail, such as entirely replacing certain objects using a simple prompt.

With the membership plan that includes access to the AI costing nearly $80, netizens have been expressing their disappointment online about its pricing, alongside ethical concerns around the promotion of AI by MrBeast:

"MrBeast is really making people pay 80 dollars a month if they want to make slop AI YouTube thumbnails..." wrote X user @DeadMemeFrog

However, not all seem to be dismissive of the idea, with some users talking about the supposed inevitability of utilizing AI for creative purposes:

"People can complain and throw a tantrum about AI as much as they like, but the reality is its too good a tool to ignore, and its only getting better, there are good uses for it, and areas that it can go too far, but YouTube Thumbnails just aren't that important," wrote X user @Deproxe

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In a now-deleted post on X, Jimmy had announced that the tool would allow users to create a "data-backed viral thumbnail." However, this post sparked a number of negative reactions from X users, with one even stating that YouTube users had made the "wrong guy famous."

Edited by Sijo Samuel Paul