Artificial intelligence has become increasingly central to how major social platforms operate.
The tech can review millions of posts, videos and accounts faster than any human team ever could, while helping other giants reform their algorithms.
But, while AI is helping some content creators rake in the cash, it's causing havoc for others who find themselves on the wrong side of automated decision-making.
Tech YouTuber Enderman has watched their entire YouTube presence disappear after multiple accounts with hundreds of thousands of subscribers were terminated.
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According to Enderman, these decisions were 'wrongfully made' by AI, with no human ever reviewing the case or verifying its accuracy.
Enderman's main channel had built a substantial audience of over 350,000 subscribers through tech content, primarily Windows experiments and malware reviews.
However, their future on the platform grew unstable when his secondary account was terminated without warning.
YouTube claimed the alternate account violated the platform's Terms of Service, but the stated reason was reportedly connected to a non-English speaking channel that had received three or more copyright strikes.
Enderman seemed to have no knowledge of the account or the language it was in.
“It wrongfully concluded my channel was associated with a channel that was terminated for three copyright strikes,” they said. “I don’t freaking know what channel that is!”
Sensing what was coming, Enderman uploaded a video on Monday (3 November), essentially preparing their audience for the worst.
Sadly for the YouTuber, their prediction proved true, as their main account has since been terminated.
Based on previous failed attempts to resolve issues with YouTube, Enderman concluded that AI was responsible for both the false association and the subsequent terminations.
“I had no idea such drastic measures like channel termination were allowed to be processed by AI," he added. "It’s really unfortunate we have to end so abruptly. I’ve really just lost all hope at this point. Shame on YouTube.”
Enderman used their remaining time on the platform to issue a warning to other content creators not to put all their eggs in YouTube's basket.
Instead, they urged fellow creators to view YouTube as supplementary income rather than their primary career, arguing that they, too, could face the same 'bullying' from YouTube's AI enforcement systems.
YouTube hasn't currently issued any public statement about Enderman's case.
Meanwhile, fans and supporters have been systematically downloading and archiving the creator's entire video library. Over on Reddit, people have reacted to Enderman's YouTube termination.
"It's gone and I saw it happen live (just as I was watching the video). I probably would have watched his channel and subscribed to him if I could have seen what his style was like," one user wrote.
"I was going back to watch some old videos that were iconic to me, and then the comments stopped loading. I reloaded, and I saw it," another user shared. "Enderman's channel was such a good channel that had been around for years, and while some close calls have happened in the past, I guess his luck ran out. It sucks that this happened."