YouTube Tests AI-Powered Automatic Video Summaries for Enhanced Viewer Experience

YouTube is currently conducting an exciting test that involves the auto-generation of video summaries using AI technology. According to their support page, these summaries have started appearing on both watch and search pages, but they are currently limited to a select number of English-language videos and viewers.

This new feature is designed to offer users a quick overview of what a video entails, allowing them to determine its relevance for their needs. YouTube clarifies that while these AI-generated summaries aim to be helpful, they do not replace video descriptions that creators write themselves.

Unfortunately, no screenshots of this feature have been shared, so it's unclear how viewers will tell apart user-created summaries from those generated by AI.

Existing AI-powered video summarizer tools like Clipnote.ai, Skipit.ai, and Scrivvy have been around, but some YouTube creators express concerns that these tools struggle with summarizing longer videos effectively. For example, one Reddit user commented about Clipnote.ai: "On my longer videos, it was complete nonsense. It mostly just copied the first lines of what I laid out in my description. It served virtually no purpose. I was hoping for a better description than my own, but it sadly fell short."

At this stage, it's too soon to predict how these AI summaries might impact YouTube creators or if they will assist in crafting their video summaries. However, we are eager to see the performance of this latest feature and whether it will lead to a broader rollout.

The introduction of AI-generated video summaries adds to YouTube’s suite of AI initiatives, which includes AI-generated quizzes for educational videos and an AI-powered dubbing tool. Additionally, Google, YouTube's parent company, has recently unveiled more AI solutions, such as an AI-assisted note-taking app and AI-generated backgrounds for Google Meet calls.

Stay tuned for more updates on YouTube's AI capabilities!