Former MrBeast Data Science Intern, Tyler McCormick, on How AI is Putting Powerful Tools In Creatives' Hands

Former MrBeast data science intern Tyler McCormick breaks down how AI is expanding the creative toolkit — making powerful, technical tools accessible to anyone with an idea.

Tyler McCormick supported MrBeast's leadership team with strategic data insights to drive smarter content decisions. In this conversation, he guides RoarOS' Mekhi Simpson through the analytical side of creative strategy.

Q: In your career, you have helped train and develop AI systems and deliver data-driven insights for MrBeast's strategy team. How do leaders know when to rely on data-driven insights versus experience and intuition?

Tyler: It's always a combination of both. Leadership and the data points rarely go in opposite directions. It really varies depending on who you talk to, but people are increasingly using data in decision-making. But it's just one part of the decision-making process. I think very soon, everyone will be very high on data. Today, many people are already highly reliant on data, but I think some still rely more on intuition.

Q: Do you think real-time social data is important for iterating and making content decisions?

Tyler: Yes, especially now because a lot of social media sites allow you to experiment with different types of thumbnails or titles. So, people can change and test things in real time, gather that data, and see what's working and what isn't. I think it's being used and recognized by both social media platforms and the people who post on them.

Q: With variables like a thumbnail, how valuable is it to know how one thumbnail may perform compared to others?

Tyler: I'm pretty sure YouTube, for example, allows A/B testing with previewing or giving certain users different parameters with thumbnails, and you can see which one has a higher click-through rate or better views. That's a big tool people have always used, and now that platforms themselves are making it easy to integrate, more and more people are using it.

Q: While working on creator and marketing projects for MrBeast, what parts of your role did you find to be supported by AI?

Tyler: The big thing with AI is that it lets you use a lot more tools and expand your toolkit. For example, you used to have to hard-code everything to use a certain model or tool, and you had to spend time learning how to do that. Now, AI can help with the technical part, and you can guide the tool on what you want to do. So it really lets you use a much wider range of tools, giving you far more options for what and how you create.

Q: If you could design your own tool to deliver faster or better results for clients, what part of data analytics would you focus on?

Tyler: Real-time insights that are digestible. Sometimes data can just be thrown at people, but many people won't necessarily understand what it means. A big part of any tool would have to be putting data into a format people can act on. Additionally, I feel like a big part of data analytics, in general, is just being able to convey the data to someone who might not necessarily have the same background or understand the technical parts.

Q: How do you think AI agents factor into the creative and marketing process now that they are being more widely used? In a year or two, they may be used to drive campaigns for you.

Tyler: Right now, agents can pretty much... do most of the technical coding for you. There's still some oversight required, but many models can be built purely through agents. It's about expanding the toolkit of someone who might not have a super-technical background. If they have a general idea of what they're looking to do, they can have an agent handle the hard technical part. Even if you're proficient with technology, they can really speed up the process. So it makes great sense to use them to work much more efficiently.

Q: Working for MrBeast is a dream role for many aspiring data scientists and marketers. What advice would you give to the next generation of professionals who want to anchor themselves in data-driven results while blending creativity into their work?

Tyler: People now have the ability to create their own videos and photos through AI without having a technical background. So I think it's important to learn all the different AI tools and how to use them. On the technical side, too, it's important to know how to use all these agents for more technical types of problems.

So, having a foundation in general coding and understanding data science and analytics is important. But, beyond the foundation, it's crucial to stay up to date on new AI tools, keep your skills current, and learn to use them effectively. This empowers people to become far more creative in their work, find innovative solutions to problems, and express themselves in new ways.