Things are heating up in the AI domain as the YouTube AI tool joins its competitors on the battlefield. At the recent “Made On YouTube” event held in New York City this week, the YouTube AI Dream Screen was announced as a new method for YouTubers to enhance the content they can create. AI-generated videos and photos have already stirred up the dust in recent times, with the ChatGPT image generator being another update we received recently. However, despite the competition, there seems to be enough room for new entries like the YouTube AI to still carve out a spot for itself.
The YouTube AI Tool: Introducing Dream Screen
The new Dream Screen AI represents a way for creators to enhance their videos using generative artificial intelligence. The YouTube AI tool will allow creators to type in a specific prompt and an AI-generated background will be produced for them to green screen into their YouTube shorts. The Dream Screen feature was tested and promoted by popular YouTubers such as BENOFTHEWEEK and Zach King. The move appears to be one step in the company’s shift towards short form content to compete with the success of TikTok, essentially guiding users towards embracing YouTube Shorts instead.
(Image Credit: YouTube)
For now, these generated YouTube AI videos appear very simple and unrealistic, which reduces the potential for misuse, but might alienate a whole category of creators who might be open to the use of realistic AI-generated videos. It is a tough spot to balance between.
CNN reported that Dream Screen will be out only for a limited set of creators for now, with plans for widespread access next year. In addition to this, YouTube has a range of other offerings that it plans to put out, both within the YouTube AI category and outside of it.
AI for YouTube to include Analytics and Content Ideation
Apart from the channel analytics YouTube Studio typically provides, the YouTube AI exploration will also include AI Insights for creators who want to understand what their viewers want to see. The platform will allow users to enter their ideas and see what video ideas the AI recommends, with additional information on the structure of the video as well. The YouTube AI will also be able to recommend appropriate music for the content through written descriptions of the video, to enhance the ideas the creator has for the content.
The YouTube AI dubbing tool was also introduced, a service that will let creators offer their videos to viewers in alternate languages through an automated dubbing feature.
According to the company, the Aloud.ai tool that will make this feature possible was developed by Buddhika Kottahachchi and Sasakthi Abeysinghe through Google’s Area 120 internal incubator.
These new developments are not the first in the collection of YouTube’s AI tools. YouTube announced an “AI Music Incubator” in August that would work with a collection of UMG artists including Abba’s Björn Ulvaeus, Anitta, Yo Gotti, and d4vd, to explore the potential of music in conjunction with AI. The company was also found to be testing an AI auto-generated summary feature for English YouTube videos, where a description would be generated by the YouTube AI tool to inform viewers of what they could expect from the video.
YouTube Create Available in Select Countries
Apart from Dream Screen and YouTube Studio features, the company also announced the YouTube Create app, which is available in 8 countries—the United States, France, Singapore, Germany, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, and Indonesia. The app is only compatible with Android, but the company has plans for iOS compatibility in 2024. Soon, creators will be able to gain insights through YouTube AI insights, go out and capture relevant video clips, and then edit them on the Create app. This will help them quickly customize their videos for YouTube, for example, by providing an instant way to adapt to the aspect ratio for both YouTube videos and Shorts.
(Image Credit: YouTube)
The music options available on the app include a selection of royalty-free music that creators will be able to use without fear of any content-ID claims that might affect their monetization status. The “Find Beats” feature will allow users to sync up their videos to the beats of the music perfectly while auto-generated captions will help the video reach a wider audience. YouTube has left no stone unturned in simplifying the video-making process, in order to attract more users to join the video-making platform as creators.
The Future of YouTube Is Tied to the Future of AI
AI-generated videos are not new to the internet, with platforms like TikTok already issuing guidelines for open declaration when an uploaded video is AI-generated. Valve was also reported to have banned games that featured AI-generated content. The new AI for YouTube comes as a slight deviation from the cautionary tone these reports set, however, it is undeniable that people are turning more and more to AI, and instead of being left behind, the company is moving to encourage AI-generated videos instead. With the service currently being limited to generating only backgrounds through Dream Screen, YouTube AI videos are not as much of a threat to the safety of users as other AI tools present. In the end, the company’s decision to support AI for YouTube is still new and users are well-placed to see what they do next.