YouTube announced an AI feature that allows users to create custom video feeds by giving commands in everyday language; the company is also expanding the capabilities of the Ask YouTube search tool and offering new personalization tools for content creators.
YouTube announced a new AI feature that allows users to create custom feeds of recommended videos by giving commands in everyday language, similar to chatbots. According to the company's announcement at its Made on YouTube event, this feature will let users create feeds dedicated to specific topics such as photography or college football, with a separate tab on the homepage for each feed. The feature is planned to roll out in the US next month on desktop, TV, and mobile devices.
The company has been using machine learning technologies to build social media feeds for years. In the era of generative AI, it is building on this technological foundation and introducing a new way to use AI to create customized video feeds.
Capabilities of the Q&A Tool Are Expanding
YouTube's experimental Ask YouTube tool allows videos to be searched with AI and is expanding its capabilities. According to the company's statement, when users look for information about a new product, the tool can compile information from videos and external sources to create content such as comparison tables. Users can click on a video offered by the tool and continue asking questions on the watch page.
This approach is partly similar to a chatbot searching and compiling information on the internet and citing its sources. However, similar to the traffic decline experienced by digital publishers with the spread of generative AI, there is a risk that YouTube's AI-powered search could eliminate people's need to click on video links and consume original content.
A YouTube spokesperson said, "Our goal is to connect viewers with the right video faster. With Ask YouTube, we expect watch time to remain stable or increase." According to the spokesperson, other AI features such as chapters and AI-generated summaries "did not show a negative impact on watch time; on the contrary, they helped with viewer retention." The spokesperson stated that videos appearing in AI search responses will "prominently display the video title and channel name."
Tools for Content Creators
YouTube is offering a special tool called Shorts series for content divided into parts. According to the company's statement, this tool will allow content creators to mark their videos as part of a specific series with season and episode numbers. Series will appear as a playlist on the creator's page. At launch, the tool will be available only to creators in YouTube's partner program and can be used on web, mobile, and TV.
The company is also offering content creators two new ways to personalize content for their viewers. Creators will be able to test multiple thumbnails and preview clips for their videos. YouTube will present the video to real viewers and, based on the performance of each thumbnail and video segment, match a viewer with the version it considers most likely to be clicked.
Real-time voice translation, known as auto-dubbing, will be made available for live streams. According to the company's statement, the feature will initially start with English and Spanish, with plans to expand to additional languages later. YouTube is also expanding ways for content creators to earn revenue from their content through a new partnership agreement with Amazon.
YouTube's AI move is part of a long-running project by its parent company Google in recent years. The platform is integrating new tools powered by Google's Gemini models. The company is now focusing its AI efforts on personalization for both viewers and content creators. Gemini is also being added as a content creation assistant for Shorts and the YouTube Create app.
Meanwhile, YouTube has been at the center of criticism this year due to a precedent-setting court ruling that found Meta and Google intentionally designed their sites to be addictive for children and young people and that this harmed their mental health. YouTube rejects this claim, arguing that it is a broadcasting platform, not a social media platform.
