When MatPat announced he would leave behind his renowned YouTube channel The Game Theorists this year, he also had a prediction: 2024 will be the year we see a mass exodus from the platform.
“I think this is the year that there’s going to be a lot more of these,” he said of farewell videos like his own. “I think the dam is gonna burst in a lot of ways.”
YouTubers retiring is nothing new. The last few years have seen the exit of many beloved creators including Jenna Marbles, Tyler Oakley, and Tanya Burr — some due to criticism, some due to declining views. Others, like Zoe Sugg, Lilly Singh, and Corpse Husband have scaled back their content massively, focusing more on their other pursuits such as comedy, business, or music. 13But this current wave of departures feels different and may be the tipping point for a whole new era of YouTube — one where MrBeast reigns supreme and smaller creators struggle to compete for views against his extremely expensive, cinematic stunts, and where AI-generated content thrives. It is unclear just how quickly AI-generated content has grown on YouTube, but one recent investigation by Wired found some channels with such content that appear to be targeting children. In September last year, the BBC also found children’s YouTube channels that were labeling AI-generated false scientific information as “educational content.” The problem is already so widespread that YouTube is bringing in new politics to address the issue. In October last year, for example, the platform said it would require creators to disclose if they had used AI technology in their videos.
MrBeast, meanwhile, continues to dominate, growing from 91 million to 244 million subscribers in the last two years. This year, his videos have so far amassed more than five billion views.
Experts believe if the trend continues, it may usher in a future where relatable and authentic friends people used to turn to the platform to watch are fewer and far between. Instead, replaced by a mixture of exceedingly high-end videos only the Mr Beasts of the internet can reach and sub-par AI junk thrown together by bots and designed to meet our consumption habits with the least effort possible.
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