From Comments to Chatbots: YouTube’s AI Journey Continues

YouTube is introducing new features to enhance interactions and discussions on its platform. One of these features is called “comment summaries,” which aim to create focused discussions within the comments section of videos. This will help creators understand what viewers are saying about specific aspects of their content.

For example, when users access the “Comments” section, they will also find a “Topics” tab that displays relevant discussion areas related to the video. Creators can use these summaries to quickly engage with comments or gather ideas for new content based on audience discussions. If they want to, creators can also remove specific comment topics.

This could be a valuable tool for both creators and viewers to engage more effectively with video content. The experiment is currently limited to a select number of English videos with large comment sections, and YouTube Premium members can choose to participate in the test.

YouTube is also introducing a conversational AI tool that allows viewers to ask questions about a video, enabling deeper exploration of specific topics. This tool suggests questions based on the content of the video, but users can also input their own prompts.

While this feature could improve the discovery experience for users interested in specific topics, there may be concerns about potential distractions or “rabbit holes” that users could be led down. YouTube acknowledges that these features are experimental and still in development, indicating a readiness to address any issues that may arise.

Currently, the “Ask” option is available to a limited number of users on select videos. In the coming weeks, YouTube Premium members using Android devices in the U.S. will have the opportunity to join the experiment.