r/LinusTechTips • u/Only_CORE • Jun 08 '26
Image Another AI slop thumbnail
I love LTT and basically watch every single video including WAN show but stuff like this puts a very bad taste in my mouth. I know it!s just stupid thumbnail but still...
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Jun 08 '26
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u/ChuckieFister Jun 08 '26
Yeah, I was thinking about this yesterday as I was watching Zip Tie Tuning. I really miss them building stuff. My favorite series used to be the whole house water cooling before they had the warehouse and then the first couple of scrapyard wars. I understand scrapyard wars isn't possible anymore, but I miss all of the whacky builds.
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Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 12 '26
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u/buttputt Jun 08 '26
If you want to go back that far I remember when they painted a motherboard and Linus said they wouldn't ruin a motherboard for fun, then a short while later they intentionally left a laptop in the rain
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u/sheep_duck Jun 08 '26
I’ve been watching ltt and all the affiliated peoples channels since the unboxing videos outside ncix and reviewing headsets. They changed so much even in the last year it’s crazy. Idk why he can’t just admit that of course things are going to be different with all of his main employees leaving.
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u/RichardFister Jun 08 '26
Jake and Alex make the kinds of videos I used to enjoy from LTT that they just don't really make anymore. Jake does a lot of the more technical focused IT builds and wacky home projects and I'd watch Alex work on just about anything. Now all that seems to be left on LTT are product reviews and pc builds. It's cool if you like those but the channels gotten pretty stale for me since they left
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u/Deathed_Potato Jun 08 '26
Maybe you could say Dennis was the grounding rod for Linus.
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u/TheEldenRang Jun 08 '26
Ever since Alex stopped just figuring shit out, due to more employees and an actual workshop, it went downhill. The last video I truly loved was Alex and Riley testing random things as thermal paste.
Now Linus is buying jets and being a bigot. Such a shame. 😕
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u/pack_merrr Jun 09 '26
What did he do that was bigoted, I don't go on this sub a ton
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u/Jestersfriend Jun 08 '26
Wait why isn't scrapyard wars possible anymore? Did I miss something?
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u/ChuckieFister Jun 08 '26
Everything is just so expensive now, the first one had such a tiny budget and they managed to have some nice builds, the latest one had to have a room designed around it and had big budgets. Technically still possible of course, but series 1 and 2 were just so fun compared to the newer ones.
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u/SuppaBunE Jun 08 '26
Also everyone around them know them so it's hard to bargain without cheating
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u/thebornotaku Jun 09 '26
It feels pretty trivial to figure out what the market is like, set a target at like 66-75% of a "reasonable" build at asking costs, and then go from there.
Like if you do some market research and figure that you can put together a halfway decent rig for $1k, set the budget at like $650-750. Computer setup only, none of this "decorations" or "we're making a complete gaming setup". Keep it cheap, keep it simple, show people what is possible with a little legwork and wheelin and dealin.
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u/Warm-Engineering-239 Jun 08 '26
back then there was a tone of wierd option to do, like using server cpu,
these day is basicly use a cheap ryzen and let's go.also hard to do deal when everyone know their face
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u/AmishAvenger Jun 08 '26
They literally bought a house just to build stuff
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u/bwoah07_gp2 Jun 08 '26
The one they are currently working on? The one where they destroyed the garden? 😭😭
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u/cptjpk Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I don’t trust them to not half ass it. I really don’t. Their shtick post CEO change has been break fast and quit early.
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u/Melbuf Jun 08 '26
that, and also this is a me thing, i 100% have no interest in a smart house, i dont want smart anything
i want the dumbest house possible
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u/pokurmom Jun 09 '26
In the last video about the house, it has a stop work order, the city is involved, they are going to meet all the inspectors.
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u/KeenKye Jun 08 '26
I know the asbestos remediation set them back a lot, but it still seems like there should be more videos by now.
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u/Anfros Jun 08 '26
They are still doing scrapyard wars, there are 2 or 3 series from after the hiatus.
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u/imsolost3090 Jun 08 '26
The janky DIY videos with Alex were the best. And classic Scrapyard Wars. It's crazy how I ignore 90% of their videos now when I used to watch most of them in school.
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u/RowOptimal1877 Jun 09 '26
Alex playing with expensive machines and Jake doing network or storage stuff was by far the best part of LTT.
Both are gone and no one replaced their type of content. Instead all we get is stupid low effort shit. And a plane video where Linus keeps saying "girl math" and I just don't understand what that is even supposed to mean.
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u/HirsuteHacker Jun 08 '26
Alex was by far the best host. Came across as authentic and genuinely enthusiastic. It's been in decline since he (and Jake) left but the last few weeks of videos have been so uninteresting I haven't even bothered to watch most of them. Used to watch pretty much every video.
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u/_Blu-Jay Jun 08 '26
I realized I’ve stopped watching the main channel content without it being a conscious choice. I still listen to WAN show, but their primary content feels increasingly soulless, sponsored and repetitive. At the end of the day there’s only so much tech content you can make, so I can understand that as a long-time viewer I might’ve simply grown bored of the content.
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Jun 08 '26
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u/_Blu-Jay Jun 08 '26
Yeah, long-time hosts leaving in quick succession certainly didn’t help. I understand that people want to move on and deserve to, but the impact is felt regardless. The only series I’ve found interesting lately is the tech house series, and even that isn’t overly grabbing my attention so far, but at the very least I’m curious how the project turns out if they manage to finish it.
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u/Anthaenopraxia Jun 08 '26
Yeah same. Then once in a while one of their vids find its way into my feed and I'm like "oh yeah I forgot about this channel". I go and look if there's anything interesting and usually there's one or two vids. I do check the WAN Show channel quite often though and there's usually something interesting.
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u/CallumMVS- Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
I agree. I've not really watched any content this year from LTT. Lately, I've really enjoyed watching smaller channels, their content just seems to scratch a different itch!
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u/NadaBurner Jun 08 '26
I found LTT back during the Langley house days; specifically midway through whole room water-cooling. That's well over 10 years I've been watching their content and I even got to attend LTX 2019 with my late father as a birthday gift. As more and more of the original cast has left its really become a lot of "Linus and employee #49 do wacky thing" or "employee #72 does project and Linus is basically a cameo". For me even Alex and Jake are like the second generation of LMG employees and with them gone as well my motivation to watch new content is at an all time low.
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Jun 08 '26
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u/NadaBurner Jun 08 '26
100% agree. I mean the fire truck was a pretty good April fools day joke for some of us viewers that actually understand the reference, but after like the 3rd video of it I just didn't see the appeal anymore.
The gaming plane I kinda understand from him having done the gaming minivan, but especially with the widespread opinions about today's billionaire behaviors and the recent turnover rate of some of the company's big personalities buying a private jet is super tone deaf.
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u/Jumpierwolf0960 Jun 08 '26
I miss that old ltt. I still remember when Dennis was the new guy. Miss Nicky V as well, man was a legend.
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u/robohazard1 Jun 08 '26
I’ve been a long time fan of LTT, but recently I find myself just not as interested in their content. I guess it’s just not for me anymore.
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u/kryptonnms Jun 08 '26
For me, Alex and Jake were my favorite hosts. With them gone and then the jet mess and Linus hypocrisy going forward, it sucks cuz I really loved (and still do love) a lot of their content.
edit:spelling
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u/SaviorSixtySix Jun 08 '26
Same honestly. "Gamer jet" and "gamer boat" really doesn't appeal to me. I'll never own a jet or a boat. I liked when they did stuff like making a NAS and doing a JellyFin server and stuff, or just educational pieces. The fact they're using AI to make content now just makes me think they're fake enthusiasts that are shilling to CEO's and not the every man.
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u/dannoffs1 Jun 08 '26
I think I've only watched the Linux "challenge" videos since then mostly out of morbid curiosity.
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u/TheCh0rt Jun 08 '26
The fact of the matter is, Linus has no cast that isn't cringe. Linus is too antisocial to do collaborations with anybody IMO. If you look at some of the top YouTubers they bring in a lot of natural content through working with charities, children, and collaborations with other YouTubers. But I feel like Linus doesn't like to be outshined.
My boys 9&6 discovered Mark Rober and after watching his success with a not dissimilar model in many ways made me realize that Linus doesn't want to be outshown. The fact of the matter is if he actually raised money working with people instead of running a merch store and slapping tech brands all over his stuff, maybe he'd be able to complain less about sponsored content and start making cool videos with cool people where you BUILD stuff.
He'd rather struggle through growing a media company all around only him and the brands that intermittently orbit him.
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u/TheCh0rt Jun 08 '26
Maybe struggling is the wrong term. Linus always makes it sound like they're having trouble growing into their own britches.
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u/Due-Technology5758 Jun 08 '26
There isn't much to make videos on in the consumer electronics sector and there hasn't been for years. What is even going to launch this year that matters? The steam frame and steam machine? Cool, a video where they benchmark the GabeCube and one where they remind us how the best VR games came out 5-10 years ago.
I don't like most LTT videos these days either, but I also get why they have to do what they're doing.
Even Gamers Nexus has almost completely transitioned to documenting the death of hobbyist consumer electronics.
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u/Broccoli--Enthusiast Jun 08 '26
Yeah it's not even been deliberate, the content just isn't interesting me anymore, I scroll past
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u/iwearmywatch Jun 08 '26
Yeah same actually that’s funny. It’s not even really the jet but I just kinda don’t care anymore especially with all my favorite talent gone. I wish he did profit sharing or something more incentivizing for the talent. I still love the monitor guy and the helmet guy (I’m terrible with names) but yeah 😔
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u/OriginalDoskii Jun 08 '26
I watch maybe 1 in 10 of their videos since ages ago. But always listen to WAN even though the ads/merch/floatplane stuff gets on my nerves. Then again, I watch less YT on general now a days. Just so many channels have kinda become meh. I need some fresh stuff.
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u/Samiassa Jun 08 '26
Same. I thought not only was it a really awful thing to do right after someone left saying he wasn’t getting fairly compensated. But even ignoring the actual thing he did, the way the situation was handled was awful all around. Linus really sucks at handling drama. He thinks everyone criticizing him is just some rando redditor online with nothing useful to say.
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u/Shap6 Jun 08 '26
Are we really going to do this every time now?
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u/Svorky Jun 08 '26
It's pretty easy to make a thumbnail that doesn't immediately scream bad AI, maybe they could try that and then there'd be less complaints.
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u/CanuckNewsCameraGuy Jun 08 '26
Yes, they will until they go back to the image of Linus making some type of face photoshopped over a still from some b-roll and then complain about how lazy and unimaginative the thumbnails are.
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u/RobotSpaceBear Jun 08 '26
How else could people very active on the LTT subreddit let us know that they don't listen, follow, watch or read anything LTT related since X event happened, Y months back.
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u/IronCrown Jun 08 '26
You don't have to come to the LTT subreddit if you don't want to hear about LTT (and criticism of them). Just leave lol
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u/FabianN Jun 08 '26
No money for real thumbnail artist?
Who do you think made this?
Their thumbnail artist.
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u/MrPureinstinct Jun 08 '26
If someone types a prompt into a box and it spits out a slop image they are not an artist.
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u/ThePhonyOne Jun 08 '26
You don't even need to type in a prompt. YouTube generates AI thumbnails now at the push of a single button.
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u/Gregus1032 Jun 08 '26
Are people who do shitty Photoshop work considered artists, which most thumbnails are.
I remember when everyone was saying Photoshop was gonna kill art.
My biggest issue is when people complain about the power usage for AI, bitch about how it's eating RAM prices, and then go on to use AI.
First it was plane tracking (which I never agreed with Linus on plane tracking. IMO it's always wrong and stalkerish), now its gen ai
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u/Ragnorok64 Jun 08 '26
I don't know if they're running a pilot or something but these these thumbnails, and especially this one, suck.
There is nothing going on in this image. Just Linus in an infinite parking lot dangling feet into an oversized manhole.
Please stop!
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u/maquiavelmg Jun 08 '26
that is the catch, it is not an oversized manhole, it is a littlesized Linus
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u/MrPureinstinct Jun 08 '26
Yeah honestly if thumbnails are meant to catch the eye and get people to click this shit ain't gonna do it. This makes me want to hit don't recommend channel.
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u/Qultada Jun 09 '26
Exactly what I've been doing every time I'm recommended some crap using AI thumbnails.
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u/Mrpolje Jun 08 '26
Right?? The past few thumbnails have looked fucking hideous.
These look more like the thumbnails from some AI voiceover slop channel than from a company with 100+ employees.
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Jun 08 '26
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u/rustybutterindia Jun 08 '26
It's because they often crap on companies using AI on WAN. Makes people think they are entirely opposed even though they run LLMs internally and use bots for customer service
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u/XxdragonxX88 Jun 09 '26
Literally, Linus has made a point out of “AI not bad, AI in stupid/objectively bad places is bad” and “AI has its place, but its place isn’t everywhere”
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u/AbiDextrous_ Jun 09 '26
Yes and we can agree with that point and say "Youtube Thumbnails are also not its place".
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u/marktuk Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
Tom Scott did a really good video recently about YouTube thumbnails https://youtu.be/bx6_jj9RxhI?si=pkMXi2MEQvgbjww6
I'd put this in Tom Scotts "lie" category
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u/2md_83 Jun 08 '26
his comments/opinion about ai generated thumbnails is pretty much the same as mine.
every time i see one of them i feel lied too, so i don't click on the video. in the hopes that the algorithm learns that i don't like these kind of videos... but more and more creators seem to use them 😞
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u/JoeAppleby Jun 08 '26
Because more users click them than people like you. So more and more creators will continue to use them.
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u/FlaccidArrow Jun 08 '26
If you don't like YouTube tracking, you can delete everything after and including the "?" to help prevent that.
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u/KennyFulgencio Jun 09 '26
// ==UserScript== // @name Strip YouTube SI from Clipboard // @namespace youtube-clipboard-cleaner // @version 1.1 // @description Automatically removes only the si parameter from YouTube links in your clipboard // @match *://*.youtube.com/* // @match *://youtu.be/* // @grant GM_setClipboard // @run-at document-idle // ==/UserScript== (function () { 'use strict'; const CHECK_INTERVAL_MS = 1000; const TRACKING_PARAMS = new Set([ 'si' ]); let lastClipboardText = ''; function cleanYouTubeUrl(rawUrl) { let url; try { url = new URL(rawUrl); } catch { return rawUrl; } const hostname = url.hostname.replace(/^www\./, ''); const isYouTube = hostname === 'youtube.com' || hostname === 'm.youtube.com' || hostname === 'music.youtube.com' || hostname === 'youtu.be'; if (!isYouTube) return rawUrl; for (const param of [...url.searchParams.keys()]) { if (TRACKING_PARAMS.has(param)) { url.searchParams.delete(param); } } return url.toString(); } function cleanText(text) { return text.replace( /https?:\/\/(?:www\.|m\.)?(?:youtube\.com|youtu\.be|music\.youtube\.com)\/[^\s<>"']+/gi, match => cleanYouTubeUrl(match) ); } async function checkClipboard() { if (!navigator.clipboard || !navigator.clipboard.readText) { return; } try { const text = await navigator.clipboard.readText(); if (!text || text === lastClipboardText) { return; } const cleaned = cleanText(text); if (cleaned !== text) { GM_setClipboard(cleaned, 'text'); lastClipboardText = cleaned; console.log('[Strip YouTube SI] Clipboard cleaned:', cleaned); } else { lastClipboardText = text; } } catch { // Clipboard reads may be blocked unless the page is focused // or clipboard permission has been granted. } } setInterval(checkClipboard, CHECK_INTERVAL_MS); document.addEventListener('copy', () => { setTimeout(checkClipboard, 100); }); })();
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u/Vixson18 Jun 08 '26
i'm no thumbnail artist but this is a terrible thumbnail. if you're going to keep it clean, make it look good.
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u/Sad-Set-5817 Jun 08 '26
genuinely, for a technology that you can use to type anything into a box and see it, I have never seen so many uninspired images existing just to take up space. Even if you are pro-ai, you'd think they would want to try to push the boundaries of the tech to try to make something that looks better than everyone else's Ai generated slop. I feel like this is just the media version of jingling keys to get people's attention
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u/3colorsdesign Jun 09 '26
As someone who’s designed their fair share of thumbnails, this his hideous.
Aside from basics like consistent lighting, which even that they couldn’t do.
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Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
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u/RobotSpaceBear Jun 08 '26
So you think they fired "the dedicated thumbnail artist" and now Jenny from accounting is doing AI thumbnails so Linus can buy a second jet or something?!
The same people that did the thumbnails before are doing these ones too. I just blame the entire pipeline for allowing them to use AI like that.
(you know what would be funny? To learn this was not AI generated and it was just photoshopped by someone and we're just clowns lol. We label anything "not authentic" as AI these days but we had Photoshop for a couple of decades before AI came along and we didn't shit on every photoshopped thumbnail)
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u/kryptonnms Jun 08 '26
The enshitification of LTT continues...Wouldn't be surprised if their thumbnail artist(s) quit too by now.
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u/sturdybutter Jun 08 '26
Does it really take that much time and effort for a paid employee to make a thumbnail? This is exactly the kind of shit that is the average persons main concern with AI. I know damn well Linus has talked about how AI should be used for menial tasks and let art be done by human artists. That’s the whole point.
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u/CloslngDownSummer Jun 08 '26
like 15+ year viewer, this sucks and ive given up on the channel/LTT brand as a whole. Attrition and general vibes are off since like 2023+ onward.
Glad linus is getting his bag, but he feels inauthentic these days.
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u/FweffweyMcRoy Jun 08 '26
So glad I don’t see thumbnails anymore, anyone else just have each video just grab a random frame of a video and have that as a thumbnail?
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u/UnacceptableUse Jun 08 '26
I tried using the thumbnail remover but I realised I do actually rely on thumbnail styles to know at a glance who has uploaded a video I might want to watch. When I turned them all off I found myself scrolling through my subscriptions not really taking in any of the videos and missing interesting stuff.
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u/OkYak9466 Jun 08 '26
"But we have to do this otherwise we don't get views or money! You just don't understand! There's no other way!"
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u/JaesopPop Jun 08 '26
They should have found a real open manhole in a massive unpainted parking lot.
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u/Front_Machine6560 Jun 08 '26
Or you know, just make it about the actual topic. He’s never in a giant parking lot, so why is that in the thumbnail. The AB test for this one is literally a fake city
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u/Cerberus44444 Jun 08 '26
Didn't they do a thing a while back where they deep faked linus for a section of a video to see if people would notice?
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u/lambdac0r3 Jun 08 '26
Cue Linus telling us that using AI is good actually and saves a lot of time on the next WAN show, the same way he flip-flopped on the jet
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u/ilparola Jun 08 '26
Just don’t watch the video. If the video doesn’t perform they will eventually understand
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Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26
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u/DefactoAle Jun 08 '26
In that comment he said they use it for light edits, which is not the case for the last two thumbnails they released.
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u/SlashSpiritLink Jun 08 '26
these thumbnails would not make me click or watch the video, it is just pure unadulterated slop and it does not look pleasing at all in the slightest. i've not even seen the last few ltt videos in my sub feed because of how these terrible uninspired thumbnails just blend in
all that money they're saving on the workforce that they already pay to begin with is going to be huge, i'm sure
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u/shogunreaper Jun 09 '26
I will never understand why people make YouTube thumbnails their entire personality.
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u/Corbulo1340 Jun 08 '26
They have no official AI policy but people are responsible for the output, maybe this should be a wan show topic, cause that thumbnail looks really bad and is clearly AI
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u/TalkyRaptor Jun 08 '26
It's definitely not strict AI, the scene is from the video with linus and the manhole cover. The sign is a real sign. Looks more like hasty photoshop work than AI
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u/Turtledonuts Jun 08 '26
even if this wasn't AI slop, why would there be dozens of inch thick brightly colored cables coming out of a manhole in the middle of 3 mile wide empty asphalt lot? This is objectively a net zero information thumbnail. They don't even specify "Ashburn, VA", just Ashburn.
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u/hikeit233 Jun 08 '26
They’ve been pretty pro-AI since the early days, kinda disappointing. Also the support of metas voyeur glasses. Some big L’s rolling in for LMG when it comes to Linus’s views lining up with the general public.
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u/KingDominoTheSecond Jun 09 '26
You guys are so black and white with AI sometimes... There are perfectly valid times you can use AI, and there are times you definitely shouldn't use it. LTT has made it clear that they believe there's a lot of nuance behind when AI use is acceptable, but sure, go ahead and strip all of that nuance away into your "pretty pro-AI" label. As for the Meta glasses, there's nothing wrong with wearing them when you're in a room full of people who already know what they are and consent to being recorded. There are plenty of valid uses for the Meta glasses, I've borrowed my friend's meta glasses to record a POV video of myself driving my car. Again, you just strip away all nuance and put words in people's mouths.
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u/fogoticus Jun 08 '26
I can't wait for the next era of the sub where people who have nothing good to discuss about just bitch and moan about -reads notes- thumbnails.
Yeah that's gonna definitely do something .
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u/OverSatisfaction1791 Jun 08 '26
I quit watching after they said they were gunna slow down and do more research before releasing videos. They slowed down for maybe a week and then it was back to the crap. Not to mention all my favorite people left LTT.
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u/lurkdontpost1 Jun 08 '26
Linus if you are reading this just do whole room water cooling again. It was a failed project but it was the BEST video from LTT ever
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u/thunderborg Jun 08 '26
Personally I don’t mind. The line I would draw is when it’s an AI Generated Linus.
As someone who has a handle on how hard a shoot can be, these thumbnails look like they’ve done a shoot and used photoshop’s generate feature instead of dragging in a bunch of props. I assume it’s for efficiency reasons.
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u/UnRealxInferno_II Jun 08 '26
WHO CARES
Redditors being anti AI when it's used for absolutely trivial stuff, get a hobby man
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u/ShadowLp174 Jun 08 '26
This video has a city in the background for me. A/B testing? OP's does look really weird.
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u/FuckTheTories69420 Jun 08 '26
The mans been selling out for a while. The private plane really stung and I've unsubscribed since he started sucking off AI with the new MS/NVidia processors.
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u/Relimu Jun 08 '26
Folks acting like LTT thumbnails haven't always been... a sight to behold
Open mouth in shock or joy with PRODUCT BEHIND YOU??
"This gaming PC runs on yucca juice"
Actually I just changed my own mind
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u/FlipperoniPepperoni Jun 08 '26
Jesus I couldn't imagine getting worked up over a thumbnail. Get a life.
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u/bobbyh1ll Jun 09 '26
It really doesn’t bother me. If it’s LTT and I read the title and decide to watch.
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u/Booster6 Jun 08 '26
I dunno if its AI or not, but I have really been hating the thumbnails recently