YouTube Experiments with Artificial Intelligence-Generated Video Summaries
YouTube is currently experimenting with AI-generated video summaries that will be displayed on search and watch pages. These summaries aim to offer a brief overview of the video content, assisting viewers in determining whether it is worth their time. However, YouTube emphasizes that these AI-generated summaries do not serve as a substitute for the video descriptions provided by the creators themselves.
The test is only visible to a “limited number” of English language videos and only to some viewers. YouTube hasn’t said which countries, platforms or video types will receive AI-generated summaries. We’ve reached out to the company for comment and will let you know if we hear back.
YouTube has been giving users a few preview features in recent weeks, as Android Police explains. Premium subscribers can lock the screen during playback to prevent accidental commands. You’ve also had the option of turning Shorts comments into entirely new shorts.
The experiment comes nearly three years after YouTube began testing AI-generated video tracks, but is part of Google’s broader generative AI effort. The tech giant has introduced the Bard chatbot and is using the technology to produce everything from spreadsheet templates to entire news articles, if not always for public consumption.
However, YouTube’s summary feature may be one of the most logical extensions. According to the service, more than 500 hours of content are downloaded every minute – it would be impossible for people to keep up. The question is whether AI summaries are accurate enough or not. Google has warned that generative systems like Bard can be prone to inaccuracies and false data, and it’s not yet clear how well the YouTube experiment will work in practice.
