YouTube has started rolling out its conversational AI. The Generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI) feature is currently available to YouTube Premium subscribers using Android devices in the US.
Conversational AI on YouTube rolling out to paying members only
YouTube had previously indicated that it would roll out its own AI feature before 2024 ends. Back then, Google was focused on Bard. Subsequently, Bard graduated to become Gemini AI.
Now, the crowd-sourced, video-sharing platform has offered its conversational AI tool, which could be relying on Gemini AI. Incidentally, YouTube had implied that its Gen AI platform would be a standalone tool. It would allow users to ask questions about the video for answers before actually finishing it.
our conversational AI tool is expanding to all U.S. YouTube Premium members w/ Android devices
use it to dive deeper into the content you ❤️ by asking questions about what you’re watching or for recs for similar videos!!
details here 🎥: https://t.co/HNFj9mlYdV
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) September 23, 2024
However, YouTube is now rolling out its conversational AI feature inside the YouTube app. Moreover, only YouTube Premium subscribers currently have access to the Gen AI tool.
How to use the Gen AI tool in the YouTube app?
YouTube appears to be testing its Gen AI feature. The video-sharing platform officially announced that users in the US will begin to see the conversational AI tool popping up on their devices.
YouTube has ensured its Gen AI tool is subtle and unobtrusive. According to 9to5Google, it is currently visible on personal devices and in the comments section.
The YouTube Android app, with a YouTube Premium account signed in, is showing an “Ask” button below the video being played. Additionally, swiping left on the comments card also reveals a new “Ask” card.
Tapping on this card brings up a new page that appears similar to a chatbot. Users can either tap on suggested text prompts or type their queries. Alternatively, users can also tap on a new “Summarize video” button. As the name suggests, this will prompt the YouTube AI chatbot to generate a summary of the video being played.
YouTube hasn’t yet confirmed what Large Language Model (LLM) or Gen AI backend it is using. However, some reports suggest YouTube could be relying on Gemini to summarize YouTube videos and comments. YouTube should offer its conversational AI chatbot outside the US. But the company hasn’t indicated any timeframe.