Among video-sharing sites, YouTube is still the top dog for long videos. But short clips on TikTok and Instagram are super popular now. To keep people watching, Google is trying out smart machines to help out.
YouTube is testing two new artificial intelligence (AI) features. One will summarize comments into easy-to-understand topics. The other lets you ask questions about a video without pausing it.
For the comment tool, the AI looks over what people say. It finds the main subjects being talked about. Viewers can then choose to see comments grouped by topic. Like sports, entertainment or reactions. This should make joining discussions easier. Creators get a quick way to see what folks are discussing too. They can delete whole topics they don’t like.
The talking machine lets you chat with an AI about the video you’re watching. You can ask it questions, get suggestions for similar videos, and more. Unlike chatbots on other apps though, it won’t interrupt your video. For now, only some premium YouTube members on Android can try asking the AI.
Google also continues a previous experiment where AI quizzes you on educational videos. A small number of regular users will find new “Topics” and “Ask” buttons under select English videos for trying these features. Over time, more people may gain access if the tools prove helpful. Google hopes these smart machines will keep users engaged on YouTube.
