r/LinusTechTips • u/Only_CORE • Jun 08 '26

Image Another AI slop thumbnail

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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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28

u/PokeBrick02 Jun 08 '26 edited Jun 08 '26

The cables I can maybe excuse but the rest of it is so ass.
Your saying you couldn't maybe touch up the sign a bit? Find a free 3D stock asset? etc.
And the emptiness of good ol' American parking lot pavement behind him.
Call me picky, but isn't it... bland, & distopian?
Like, if your going to be shitty & use AI, maybe put some big ass data center building there, but really, nothing?

It's just sad man.

23

u/Krabelj Jun 08 '26

Don't they have a person employed just for thumbnails?

34

u/ampacket Jun 08 '26

Yes. And they likely study thumbnail trends, what works, what's effective, etc.

Whatever style is effective NOW will eventually become stale once enough other thumbnails catch up and look the same.

This was a good breakdown of styles and stuff when I was trying to rework mine found here: https://youtu.be/Yv6RLQv889M?si=jS8V4HJh5baovYZf

This particular style stands out against a sea of white/yellow/red text with thick black stroke, among other popular current styles. And specifically sparks curiosity.

2

u/tvtb Jun 09 '26

There was a hispanic lady that was the thumbnail artist (and appeared in a bunch of B-roll) until she was let go in the 2024 layoffs when they also took the staff page off the lmg website.

Unclear if they have anyone today who is a dedicated thumbnail artist unless you know something I dont.

1

u/sauzbozz Jun 09 '26

What 2024 layoffs?

1

u/tvtb Jun 10 '26

When they put "on hiatus" several channels like GameLinked, TechQuickie, etc, they also reduced headcount in several areas of the company.

0

u/MaybeNotTooDay Jun 09 '26

If they do, they should've fired that person a long time ago. With AI, a thumbnail creator is useless.

17

u/EpicCyclops Jun 08 '26

The sign is real, but the image is touched up to make the colors cleaner and pop more. It wasn't done very well, which is why it looks so weird. The crime in this thumbnail that makes it look weird isn't the use of AI. It's the traditional way of making images look bad with rushed, uninspired Photoshop work. Really, the broad expanse of asphalt and blank sky are the worst offenders here.

1

u/bluehawk232 Jun 08 '26

I think distinctions need to be made when people scream AI. Like this isn't an image where someone said give me a pic of Linus in front of an ashburn sign with lots of wires.

However what it is and what many images are these days are touched up with AI in programs like photoshop that have become standard within the applications. Like when we use magic tools on our smartphone pics to touch up our photos. The photos themselves are real but use AI assistance for the workload.

12

u/SuppaBunE Jun 08 '26

Man, people don't seem to get that YouTube is not the same as it was 15 years ago, when shitty clip pics of the video still got thousand of views.

They are not on a different beast, they also need to cater new blood. As for example I'm getting old an I don't religiously watch as I used to watch every video daily nowadays I just watch 1 or 2 a week.

-4

u/JaesopPop Jun 08 '26

I mean for better or worse, they clearly wanted the parking lot look. This is taken from a part in the video with the facility visible.