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Journalism of Courage
You know how sometimes you’re watching a YouTube video and you find yourself with a burning question, but there’s nowhere to really ask it? Google is working on changing that by giving YouTube an AI assistant to be your virtual viewing buddy.
The company has kicked off a limited experiment where select YouTube Premium subscribers in the US can fire up a conversational AI to quiz it about the videos they’re watching in real time. Once enabled, Android users will see an “Ask” button beneath eligible videos that lets them type out questions or choose from pre-set prompts for things like summaries or related content recommendations.
From there, Google’s AI analyses the video footage combined with your query to give relevant responses on the fly – all without interrupting your viewing experience.
Not every video is going to have this AI assistant feature available just yet, though. Google is rolling it out gradually, with supported videos clearly advertising the “Ask” option below the player controls. Hit that button for the first time and you’ll have to accept Google’s generative AI terms before getting started.
But even with that little hoop to jump through, early tests show the AI replies are impressively quick and accurate.
The caveat is that this experimental feature is only sticking around until May 1 for now. Google seemingly wants to gauge user interest and feedback before deciding on making it a permanent part of the YouTube experience down the road.
As AI inevitably finds its way into more Google products and services, the tech giant is trying to be upfront about its use. YouTube creators now have to disclose AI-generated content, and Google’s rolling out AI disclaimer labels for videos covering sensitive topics like politics or health.
