Google is rolling out AI features to all of its products, one after another. Bard is popping up in apps like Docs, Sheets, and Gmail, while artificial intelligence arrived on Google Maps a couple of weeks ago. Now, the AI revolution is coming to YouTube, but only to a limited group.
Google announced two new AI YouTube features in testing today. These features are rolling out to a small pool of testers at first, so you may or may not see them right away. However, the company is also opening testing to YouTube Premium subscribers. If you pay for YouTube, you can try these two AI features early.
Summarize the comments with AI
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When you have access to YouTube’s new AI features, you’ll see a “✨Topics” button appear above the comments. Tap it, and YouTube will automatically sort the comments into “themes”: If multiple comments are talking about a similar thing, they’ll end up in one of these themes together. Google is hoping this feature makes it easier to read through unwieldy comments sections on viral videos.
Google used a MrBeast video, “7 Days Stranded at Sea,” as an example in its announcement: When you choose Topics on this video, you might see comments sorted into themes like “People love Bryan the bird,” “Lazerbeam should be in more videos,” “No submarine,” and “More seven-day challenges.”
ChatGPT meets YouTube
This next one makes a lot of sense for YouTube to add, actually. The company is testing a generative AI bot that you can use to ask about the current video you’re watching. There are already plenty of tools like this out there, including ChatGPT itself, but here, you get the convenience of having the bot embedded in the player, without interrupting playback.
To pull up the bot, tap the new Ask button, then ask away. You can chat about what’s going on in the video, ask for recommendations for similar videos, or, if it’s an educational clip, ask for quizzes to test your knowledge.
How to try YouTube’s new AI features
If you’re a YouTube Premium subscriber, head to youtube.com/new. Here, you’ll be able to opt in to the new AI features. Keep in mind, they’re only available on iOS and Android to start.