YouTube unveils new generative AI tools to help creators make better videos

YouTube's generative AI products come amid a broader push by search giant Google to infuse the technology across all its products including its flagship search engine.

YouTube on September 21 unveiled a suite of generative artificial intelligence (AI) products and tools for creators on its platform becoming the latest service to embrace the nascent technology that has gripped technology giants and startups across the world.

"We want to make it easier for everyone to feel like they can create (videos). We believe generative AI will make that possible. AI will enable people to push the boundaries of creative expression by making difficult things simple and impossible dreams possible" YouTube head Neal Mohan said during a company event.

"These powerful tools shouldn't just be for a select few. We believe they are for everyone. We're building on our track record of innovation and putting the creative power of AI into the hands of billions of people," he said.

YouTube said it will start testing a new experimental feature called Dream Screen later this year, which will allow creators to create AI-generated video or image backgrounds for their short videos by just typing an idea into a prompt.

During the event, Mohan showed examples of “a panda drinking coffee” following which a video background appeared on the screen. The company also suggested other examples such as filming in outer space, trekking through an enchanted forest or pet animals driving the creator to other places.

A screenshot depicting various AI-generated video or image backgrounds created by YouTube's Dream Screen feature (Credit: YouTube)

In the future, YouTube said it will allow users to "reimagine their videos" by simply typing in an idea to edit their content or remix existing YouTube videos into new videos.

During the event, Mohan also disclosed that YouTube Shorts has now climbed to over 70 billion daily views from over 2 billion signed-in monthly users across the world. This number is up from 50 billion daily views the service announced in February this year.

This announcement comes several months after Mohan had announced plans to introduce generative AI tools for creators in March 2023, amid a broader push by search giant Google to infuse the technology across all its products including its flagship search engine.

The Google-owned video platform is tapping into generative AI to bring in features that will help creators come up with new video ideas, find music tracks for their videos and reach new audiences through features such as automatic dubbing.

A screenshot of YouTube's new AI insights for Creators (Credit: YouTube)

The insights will be personalised for each channel and based on what audiences are already watching on the platform, Mohan said. It will also provide draft outlines to help creators in their brainstorming process. Mohan said they have been testing a version of these tools with creators and more than 70 percent of those surveyed said it’s helped them develop and test ideas for videos.

YouTube will also make it easier for creators to find a soundtrack for their videos with assistive search in Creator Music. Mohan said one can simply type in a description of their content and AI will suggest the right music at the right price.

Apart from this, the service is also bringing its AI-powered dubbing tool Aloud to YouTube, helping creators to dub their content into other languages.

New mobile editing app

YouTube also announced a new mobile editing app called YouTube Create, which is designed to make video production easier for creators making short and long videos.

The app will offer video editing tools such as precision editing and trimming, automatic captioning, voiceover capabilities and access to a library of filters, effects, transitions and royalty-free music with beat-matching technology. Mohan said that they have consulted with more than 3,000 creators in the process of building this mobile app.

YouTube Create is currently in beta on Android and is available for free in select markets including India, the United States, Germany, France, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Korea and Singapore.

"We're still in the really early days of this journey. (These announcements) are just a sneak peek of what's coming next and we are committed to expanding creativity with AI technology in ways that are bold and responsible" Mohan said.