YouTube is currently experimenting with two new creative AI features for Premium subscribers. The first generates automatically summaries of popular comment topics on videos. In an example using a MrBeast clip, it pulled out discussions such as “People love Bryan the bird” and “More 7 day challenges.” Viewers can tap to see all comments within a topic.
This could be handy for videos with extensive commenting! YouTube notes it won’t include unpublished, blocked, or removed comments in summaries. Creators may also delete specific comments to prevent undesirable discussions from being highlighted. This could help big YouTubers manage overwhelming comment volumes. For now, it only works on select highly commented English videos.
Another test involves a conversational AI assistant accessible via a new “Ask” button on Android. Presumably functioning like virtual assistants Siri or Alexa, users can chat and inquire about the video content being viewed. Answers rely on information from the video itself and online sources. If performing well, the AI’s in-depth knowledge from large language models could facilitate “diving deeper” into topics. Playback can continue in the background during chats.
Both experimental features currently require Premium subscriptions and opting into YouTube’s test program. As the company refines the technology, accuracy may improve. It will be interesting to observe the rollout and reception of these AI-powered additions aiming to enrich the YouTube viewing experience. Reader feedback on the concepts’ potential usefulness would also be insightful.
