Who is Marques Brownlee? Bigshot American tech YouTuber and National Frisbee player earns spot on Time's 100 AI list

The latest cover of TIME magazine lists the top 100 significant AI figures for 2024, including YouTuber Marques Brownlee, also known as MKBHD.

Brownlee, who completed his graduation from Stevens Institute of Technology and was part of 2021 Under 30 alum, has even secured interviews with tech titans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, META cofounder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and Apple founder Bill Gates. It was reported earlier that Musk chose Brownlee's video as the winner of a national competition to promote the firm's new Model S electric car.

Who is Marques Brownlee?

The YouTuber emerged as one of the most vocal critics of the advanced technology following the introduction of the Humane Ai Pin and Rabbit r1, the devices designed to challenge the conventional wisdom surrounding smartphones. To his audience of over 19 million individuals in April of this year, he dubbed these devices “the new worst product I've ever reviewed” and “barely reviewable.” He went on to complain about half-baked features and “brutally bad” battery life.

Following this, Brownlee, 30, came under fire for being excessively critical, but he responded, saying it's important to be honest with his audience.

“These companies already know about these downsides,” he stated. “At best you could say I'm accelerating whatever is already happening.”

Also Read: Indian-Americans featured in TIME 100 Most Influential People in AI 2024

He frequently uses AI to assist with brainstorming video ideas and editing thumbnails. Speaking on OpenAI's Sora in a February video, Brownlee remarked, “In the future, it gets pretty existential, man.”

“If this is trained on all videos that have ever been made by humans, then surely it can’t be innovative and creative in ways humans haven’t already been. Right?”

OpenAI has consistently refused to clarify whether or not Sora was trained on content from YouTube. However, other tech firms and even Bronwlee have been using videos to train their models against the terms of service of the platform.

Stating that it feels like “I'm donating this material against my will,” he remarked there is a part of him that has long since come to terms with it.

Brownlee envisions a future in which creators are paid by AI engineers for the use of their videos like YouTubers who receive a portion of the platform's ad revenue.

His YouTube channel, MKBHD, focuses on gadgets, evaluating everything from video games to drones to smartphones, focuses on gadgets.

Former Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra has called Brownlee “the best technology reviewer on the planet right now”. He received “Creator of the Decade” title at the 2019 10th Shorty Awards.

Brownlee, 2022 WFDF World Champion

Brownlee, the professional ultimate player, is the 2022 WFDF World Champion with New York PoNY in the Open Category for Frisbee. He termed his pass from midfield as “a million feet in the air.”

He will represent Team USA at the World Ultimate Championships in Gold Coast this week in Australia.

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