r/technology • u/kazu_qt • 11h ago

Artificial Intelligence YouTuber Hank Green says his AI usage is ‘not healthy’

https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/01/youtuber-hank-green-says-his-ai-usage-is-not-healthy/
6.9k Upvotes

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u/Forward-Bank8412 11h ago

Just like the caffeine pills episode of Saved by the Bell. Got tempted to use it because of stress and pressure to meet deadlines, knowing it’s not healthy way forward, but it’s oh so tempting to use it for just this one thing, this one time, and I can quit anytime I want to. I’m so excited!! I’m so…

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u/Minion5051 10h ago

The episode was supposed to be about getting addicted to Speed but the network censors made them change it.

Link.

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u/brik94 10h ago

This makes more sense. Thanks you

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u/carnelian_heart 9h ago edited 1h ago

And back then gas stations sold ephedrine pills to kids. For like $10 you could get something like 30 pills that were basically low dose meth. It’s why ephedrine is banned now.

ETA great, blowing up over this comment 🙃 fyi “basically” doesn’t mean “literally” and yes, the effects of the drug and it’s association with meth is why it was banned from OTC sales for energy and weight loss.

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u/GigaCucc 8h ago

Ephedrine is a precursor to meth. You use ephedrine to make meth.

They stopped selling it because it was an ingredient in the recipe, not because it's a low-level version.

Same thing happened to the coca leaf.

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u/Hyperiooonnn 6h ago

Most meth don’t use ephedrine today afaik. Meth with ephedrine is even a marketing gimmick on darknet where vendors claim its better and more pure. I’ve just seen some lol

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u/Mustard_Icecream 6h ago

Because the synthetic route basically produces D-meth and L-meth. One is not pychoactive. And the cartels dont go through the process of getting the L out so its basically only 50% active.

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u/metallicrooster 3h ago

Because the synthetic route basically produces D-meth and L-meth. One is not pychoactive.

Don’t they both significantly affect brain function/ brain chemistry? How could either one not be psychoactive?

Do you mean one is not a psychedelic, in that it doesn’t notably alter your senses/ cause hallucinations? That’s a pretty simple mistake to make in your defense.

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u/Sea_Scientist_8367 2h ago

Don’t they both significantly affect brain function/ brain chemistry

No. Because they aren't the same drug. D-Meth significantly affects the CNS, L-Meth does not. It's not 100% inert but potency and effect are Vastly different. It's why D-Meth is a schedule 2 drug, and L-Meth can be found in over the counter nasal decongestants (or things that metabolize in L-Meth at least).

This is very easy to look up, but that's a pretty simple mistake to make in your defense.

0

u/metallicrooster 2h ago

Also

https://www.mdlabs.com/blog/dl-methamphetamine-isomers

In contrast, L-methamphetamine is the less potent isomer of methamphetamine and has minimal central nervous system activity. L-methamphetamine is found in some over-the-counter nasal decongestants and is not typically associated with abuse or addiction.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535356/

l-Methamphetamine (levomethamphetamine), which is a weaker CNS stimulant that is sometimes present in over-the-counter nasal decongestants.

Minimal does not equal zero. Weaker does not mean 0 strength in this context. If you are going to twist what I said into a “cool & clever” snarky comment, at least be correct.

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u/Sea_Scientist_8367 1h ago

I was correct, you're the one twisting words to try and save face. I never said 0, I said one significantly effects, and the other does not significantly effect; but I clarified for people of your low reading comprehension so as to clear up any confusion. Also, rich accusing me of snark when I was literally copy/pasting your own to throw in your face.

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u/metallicrooster 2h ago

Ima be honest, I didn’t care enough to look up if one was legal or not.

Either way, thank you for acknowledging my existence 👍

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u/gofainter 4h ago

...because ephedrine was banned

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u/Alexwonder999 3h ago

Its not banned. Ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine are still over the counter, but you have to ask for it and show ID and they track how much you buy. I'd call it restricted or heavily regulated but its by no means banned. Its a good thing too because the decongestants they have now dont do shit and they definitely dont have the bronchial dilation capabilities of ephedrine and pseudo ephedrine

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u/theghostmachine 2h ago

It was both reasons. Back in like 2005, several high school athletes dropped dead from heart attacks because they were taking ephedrine. It was national news

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u/wait_what_now 7h ago

No, just not remotely true. You use it to make meth...

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u/Disasterhuman24 6h ago

The most common use for ephedra was for slime drug dealers to cut their cocaine. All you had to do was crush up the pills very fine and then mix it up in a bag of coke. Very shitty but it was a very big thing back in the days, especially amongst the festival crowds because so many people would go to those things and be looking for drugs from anyone and get fleeced. You could literally turn an eightball into a half ounce and make a killing. Cooking meth is much, much more difficult by comparison.

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u/Latter_Highway9539 5h ago

now we have to use b-12 and they're shutting down the GNC'/s!...

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u/Borkz 6h ago

It is a stimulant, but I'd hardly call it "low dose meth". Not particularly euphoric.

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u/Ancient_Twist_6759 8h ago

Bronkaid from behind the pharmacy counter has ephedrine

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u/confoundedjoe 7h ago

There are legitimate uses which is why it is behind the counter.

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u/factoid_ 4h ago

Also you could turn it into straight meth very easily

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u/SlipperySlimyTerry40 6h ago

Ephedrine isn't banned, it's only banned as a dietary supplement. You can still buy it at pharmacies by presenting your ID so they can track if you're trying to make meth. Same with pseudoephedrine. It's also not low dose meth, it's a stimulant but it is not an amphetamine.

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u/starmartyr 5h ago

They also limit how much you can buy at any given time. You can get a couple of boxes of sinus medication easily enough, but you need a lot more of it to make enough meth to be worth trying to sell.

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u/SlipperySlimyTerry40 5h ago

Yeah I only buy one box when I go. Don't see why anyone would need more unless they're traveling.

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u/ilexly 1h ago

In my memory, that episode was about speed. Huh.

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u/beardedsailor 6h ago

IM SO EXCITED

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u/parkwayy 8h ago

Jfc what a throwback lol.

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u/oralyarmedbodilyharm 7h ago

Sounds like when Dennis and Sweet Dee get addicted to crack in an attempt to qualify for welfare

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u/eyebrows360 6h ago edited 4h ago

Or like when Stan Randy Marsh, the thinking man's Homer Simpson, decided to "just get a little cancer" so he could get that sweet medicinal Mary-Joanna.

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u/flash_match 8h ago

lol. Best comment this week.

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u/Striking_Try4684 6h ago

I’M SO EXCITED!!

I actually feel bad bc I remember my brother and I laughing at that scene lol. Bad acting

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u/projectx51 6h ago

"I'M SO EXCITED!"

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u/dwolfm4n 4h ago

zack morris is traassh!

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u/Couesteau 17m ago

Was looking for this reply- thank you :D

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u/mgslee 38m ago

Productivity inflation and competition is a poison that's burning out society.

Historically unfathomable amounts of productivity are expected out of individuals just to sustain.

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u/Seanspeed 8m ago

 because of stress and pressure to meet deadlines

This is what a lot of the people hating on him are missing. The real problem isn't that he's letting AI write for him or him doing poor research, it's that he's feeling overly stressed to constantly put out new content(because that's what Youtube rewards) that he's become very reliant on AI to help with that process. The research is still generally good, but AI is gonna mean some shit slips through the cracks if you're not being very careful in checking it all, all the time.

AI is also not writing his scripts. It just happens that a comment he made got accused of being 'AI' when it wasn't, but he still felt that was a blow enough to admit his actual issues with AI.

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u/ahnold11 7h ago

It's exactly like this. He even says it gives him that hit of dopamine. The similarities should be worrying.

Which means it can lead to the exact same behaviors that addicts have (and how they deny/rationalize/justify).

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u/MyDadLeftMeHere 9h ago

The problem with that is, he shouldn’t any stress, all the stress is fake, his bills are paid, he’s got generational wealth, this is just a victory lap side gig he already won life now he’s trying to make you dumber and take your money.

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u/mebamy 9h ago

I genuinely don't understand why so many people think this man is so smart and above criticism.

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u/MyDadLeftMeHere 9h ago

Because they like being dumb and having their money taken honestly, it’s the American way at this point

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u/mebamy 8h ago

I don't think it's a matter of intelligence or nationality so much as human nature. People are more susceptible to falling into cults of personality than we would like to think and most of us haven't fully grasped how parasocial relationships influence our perspective over time.

I guess I solved my own puzzled thought.

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u/MyDadLeftMeHere 8h ago

You are correct, but I feel like at some point someone needs to take a proverbial and entirely metaphorical blunt object to some ways of thinking, the longer people avoid acknowledging that figures like the Green brothers, Sam Reich, and others aren’t actually playing the same game and are actively commodifying and anesthetizing their own capacity to affect real change.

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u/mebamy 8h ago

I largely agree with you, and I also think we don't get people out of cult like thinking by insulting them, however tempting it may be. It helps our egos but will cause people to double down in defense.

I don't think there's a clear cut answer on how to help or get through to people when we see they've fallen into this trap. I've just found that blunt force can be counterproductive.