For many years, the idea of earning a living online was simple: create content, grow an audience, and be blessed by the algorithm. Making money online was possible, and for a while it looked too easy. In reality, it was still hard work, but getting there could happen if you put in the time and effort.
Now, everything seems to be changing, and fast. Across platforms, creators are facing stricter monetisation rules. This can be seen in falling payouts, and an increased risk of demonetisation.
I noticed it firsthand when Medium slashed writer earnings from the beginning of 2025, and they haven’t recovered. They had problems from late 2024, and the new year began with lower earnings and a purge of writers who were not all that they seemed. AI writing might have had something to do with it.
Meanwhile, creators at Facebook have recently reported and complained about much-reduced payouts.
But the big change seems to be what is happening at YouTube.
So, what’s going on?
Most days in my YouTube recommendations, I will see videos from creators who have been demonetised or banned. Others report lower views and payments. Some say that payments have fallen, although view count is the same.
YouTube has tightened its policies around AI and the use of “reused” content. They are cracking down on “inauthentic” content. In recent months, the platform has stepped up action against AI-generated content that has little input from the creator.
Videos that are:
- Inauthentic
- Repetitive or produced from templates.
- Mass-produced.
- Reusing content without making significant changes.
- Or 100% AI.
All are being targeted and removed when found.
Content that falls into these categories is increasingly being demonetised, with channels being removed from the Partner Program entirely.
But is it just about the use of AI?
Some who have been banned claim that they are not using AI at all to create their videos. But even on appeal, they remain banned. And many very popular AI-produced video channels with millions of views have been demonetised and banned.
Is it a ban on AI?
No.
YouTube says that AI content is allowed, but only if it adds value with commentary, storytelling, or education. But there is also something else. It should be remembered that YouTube is owned by Google. Google has its own AI models, Google AI and Google Gemini. They want people to use AI!
YouTube is also encouraging users to use AI. You can read all about it on the YouTube Official Blog.
So, it is not in Google’s and YouTube’s interest to ban AI.
The message that YouTube wants to get over is that AI should be used as a tool, not a shortcut to easy money. But they are probably approaching it in a heavy-handed way, with the algorithm making decisions on who to ban and demonetise. It would be ironic if it were AI checking all those flagged as breaking the rules.
But it would make sense. YouTube has millions of channels, and every day 20 million videos are uploaded to the platform. I doubt they have enough people to check them all, but AI could do it.
With the lure of easy money, platforms like YouTube are facing a flood of low-quality AI-generated content. Much of it now has a name of its own: AI slop. This “slop” seems to be popular as a way to produce easy content, giving the impression that it is easier than ever to make money online.
I’ve read the “how to” articles on Medium and elsewhere, and I’ve seen the “how to” videos on YouTube that give false hopes of how easy it is to use AI to make content. In a way it is, but a lot of that content is of poor quality. As one example, there are many videos on YouTube that use the same automated AI voice. The voice itself is fine, but I’ve become bored with hearing it. If I hear that voice at the start of a video, I immediately move on!
I suspect that for a while, it was easy for some. As is often the case, those that got in early were the ones that made the easy money.
But there still remains the question of why the fall in payments to genuine creators — if indeed that is happening. Only the platforms themselves know how the money is being paid out, and creators have no control over that. The company behind the platform has the power to do what it likes, and getting the truth from them? Well, it’s up to them what they tell creators.
Here’s an idea. If AI is so popular, surely there is a gap in the market for platforms to provide AI content. How about Google setting up YouTube AI? Or perhaps someone else with billions to spare could do it. Elon Musk is always looking for a way to add to his fortune.
And I do wonder, given all the AI written books now on Amazon, perhaps they could separate them from all the human writers? Give AI its own category.
Then people would have a choice — human or machine produced content?
Photo by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash
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