Those users could become loyal to Microsoft, White said. And eventually, some users may even “get tired of trying to get around Microsoft account requirements, or Microsoft will add a new feature that they'd like to get an account for, and they'll give in and start using a Microsoft account,” White suggested in his video. “Some people will certainly do that, not me.”
Microsoft declined Ars' request for comment.
To White, it seemed possible that YouTube was leaning on AI to catch more violations, but perhaps recognizing the risk of over-moderation and therefore not allowing AI to issue strikes on his account.
But that was just a “theory” that he and other creators came up with but couldn't confirm, as YouTube's chatbot that supports creators also appeared to be “suspiciously AI-powered,” seemingly responding automatically even when a “supervisor” was connected, White said in his video.
In the absence of more clarity from YouTube, creators posting tutorials, tech tips and computer repair videos were shocked. Their biggest fear was that unexpected changes in automated content moderation could unexpectedly get them banned from YouTube for posting videos that seem ordinary and mundane in tech circles, White and Britec said.
“We're not even sure what we can make videos of,” White said. “Everything is a theory right now because we don't have anything concrete from YouTube.”
YouTube recommends removing the content
White's channel became popular after YouTube spotlighted an early trending video he made in which he showed a workaround to install Windows 11 on unsupported hardware. After that video, the views on his channel increased, and he then gradually built his subscriber base to around 330,000.
In the past, White's videos were flagged as infringing in that category, but through human review they were quickly reinstated.
“They were affected for the same reason, but at that point the AI revolution had not yet taken over,” White said. “So it was relatively easy to talk to a real person. And by talking to a real person, they said, 'Yes, this is stupid.' And they brought the videos back.”
Now YouTube is suggesting that human reviews are causing the takedowns, which probably doesn't entirely alleviate creators' fears about arbitrary takedowns.
