Brilliant: Difference between revisions

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'''[[wikipedia:Brilliant_(website)|Brilliant]]''' (also known as '''Brilliant.org''') is a website and app operated by '''Brilliant Worldwide, Inc.''' that provides online courses. Brilliant is a for-profit corporation supported by venture capitalists. Brilliant is most known for its sponsored segments in [[YouTube]] videos, where the service is often promoted by presenters who are renowned for their evidence-based points of view, as well as for scrutinizing and refuting pseudoscience and scams.<!-- The last edit entirely misses the point of the following image. This entire point of adding this image was to provide evidence of the claim that Brilliant has a “content team” instead of actual teachers and professors. The last edit also removes this claim despite the evidence. I'm not able to create a talk page because the captcha doesn't work, which is why I'm writing a comment directly on the page. -->

Brilliant’s courses are formatted similarly to a traditional textbook with the addition of various interactive elements, such as multiple choice quiz questions, videos, and interactive graphs and charts. These interactive elements are one of Brilliant's main selling points, as they set the service apart from traditional textbooks.  

[[File:Brilliant_slider.png|thumb|Example problem from one of Brilliant's mathematics courses. ]]

Brilliant does not promote itself as being suitable to a particular audience studying any particular concept, instead acting as a general learning plaform for a self proclaimed wide variety of subjects. Courses on Brilliant introduce basic concepts within each subject, however, they lack independent validation or formal accreditation for their effectiveness.

When Brilliant lowers its prices, existing customers are still billed at the original, higher prices on renewal, despite being protected from price increases by the same policy:<blockquote>User's subscription to the Service will continue indefinitely until cancelled by User (via the cancellation mechanisms provided on the Site). After User's initial subscription period, and again after any subsequent subscription period, User's subscription will automatically continue for an additional equivalent period, at the price User agreed to when subscribing.</blockquote>By using the service, the user is automatically opted in for automatic renewal, and there is no option to opt out:<blockquote>User agrees that User's account will be subject to this automatic renewal feature.</blockquote>Since the creation of this article, Brilliant has since updated this section of the Terms and Conditions: <blockquote>User's subscription to the Service will continue indefinitely until cancelled by User (via the cancellation mechanisms provided on the Site). After User's initial subscription period, and again after any subsequent subscription period, User's subscription will automatically continue for an additional equivalent period, at the price User agreed to when subscribing. User agrees that User's account will be subject to this automatic renewal feature. If User does not wish User's account to renew automatically, or if User wants to change or terminate User's subscription, please sign in and go to the Change / Cancel Membership page. If User cancels a subscription, User may use such subscription until the end of then-current subscription term and the subscription will not be renewed thereafter.</blockquote>This section continues to explain methods for canceling the automatic renewal as well as specifying that cancellation requests must be submitted at least one business day before the end of the subscription period <ref name=":0" />. The subscription itself authorizes Brilliant to periodically charge customers' credit cards for automatic renewal, again including undisclosed additional taxes:<blockquote>By subscribing, User authorizes Brilliant to charge User's credit card, debit card or other payment method at such time and again at the beginning of any subsequent subscription period, including any sales or similar taxes imposed on User's subscription payments.</blockquote>Since this article was started, Brilliant has added a foot note below the "Subscribe Now" button that clarifies that auto-renew is on by default<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Brilliant |date=2025-07-14 |title=Unlock the full Brilliant experience |url=https://brilliant.org/subscribe/ |url-status=live}}</ref>, stating: "*Billed as one payment. Renews annually, cancel anytime. You can turn off auto-renew from your settings".

The seven-day free trial is a [[Click-to-cancel#Free-to-pay|free-to-pay]] scheme: a one-year paid subscription with a seven-day cancellation period:<blockquote>Brilliant may offer promotions, such as free trials, discounts, or other special offers, to users from time to time (collectively, “Promotions”). Promotions may be subject to specific terms, including a defined period during which the Promotion must be redeemed and utilized (each, a “Promotion Period”). Unless otherwise stated, any use of a Promotion will automatically convert into a paid subscription for the Services upon the expiration of the Promotional Period. Users are responsible for canceling their subscription before the end of the Promotional Period to avoid incurring any charges (or, in the case of a discount Promotion, to avoid additional charges). Failure to cancel within the Promotional Period will result in the applicable subscription fee being charged to the payment method provided at the time of sign-up or as updated by User.</blockquote>According to a [[wikipedia:CNET|CNET]] survey concerning the utilization of subscription services, “A total of 48% of respondents said they had signed up for a free trial of a paid subscription and then forgot to cancel it.”<ref>[https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/subscription-creep-is-real-consumers-are-paying-over-1000-each-year-cnet-survey-finds/ 'Subscription Creep' Is Real. Consumers Are Paying Over $1,000 Each Year, CNET Survey Finds]</ref>

Under the Site Content section, Brilliant lays out what is considered "fair use" of their content. This has the potential for abuse as their definition of "Content" includes anything that Brilliant has on their website or sends to you directly. This could include lessons or other media they provide to you, but also includes logos, their name, or virtually anything known publicly about the company that they provide on their website, and in the terms specifically state that "public display" and "publicly perform" are included as copy written material. This could be potentially leveraged as a way to use copyright to suppress sharing information and user reviews, as the only way to use their "content" is with express written permission<ref>{{Cite web |last=Brilliant |date=2025-07-14 |title=Terms of Use |url=https://brilliant.org/terms-of-use/ |url-status=live}}</ref>. <blockquote>User agrees that all content and materials (collectively, "Content") delivered via the Service or otherwise made available by Brilliant at the Site are protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by Brilliant in writing, User agrees not to sell, license, rent, modify, distribute, copy, reproduce, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, adapt, edit or create derivative works from such materials or content. Reproducing, copying or distributing any content, materials or design elements on the Site for any purpose is strictly prohibited without the express prior written permission of Brilliant.</blockquote>When searching for dissenting opinions about Brilliant on YouTube reviews do come up, however finding sources with no incentives to lean one way or another was difficult. Many videos by various creators come up, but most made it clear in the descriptions of the videos that they were sponsored by Brilliant or gave softball criticisms that were walked back. One video by Wiggle was the only truly negative review that was found, but as of writing this he has 787 subscribers, so it is unclear if this video would have garnished enough attention to be noticed by Brilliant's legal team. Wiggle goes on to say that "the idea is not to teach anything, but make you feel like you're learning a lot"<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wiggle |date=2024-08-09 |title=Is Brilliant.org A Scam? |url=https://youtu.be/mzNYsPuEsRI?si=FF0mr0kTsuC0qAQ- |access-date=2025-07-14 |website=YouTube}}</ref>, a far more critical statement than any other videos reviewed. It is also worth noting that most videos reviewed for this were not written by experts or people very familiar with the topics covered, and these videos praised Brilliant for it's easy to learn topics. The lack of expert or negative reviews could be seen as suspicious, however no evidence was found of Brilliant actively removing dissenting opinions. <!-- While the lack of evidence is not evidence, it is certainly suspicious. I could not find any direct evidence of a video being taken down by Brilliant, but I admit I am not sure how you would find a video that was taken down.  -->