More content on YouTube is going to be created at least in part using generative AI.
The video platform announced several new AI-powered tools for creators at its annual Made on YouTube event on Thursday. Among the features coming later this year or next are AI-generated photo and video backgrounds, AI video topic suggestions, and music search.
A new feature called Dream Screen will create AI-generated videos and photos that creators can place in the background of their YouTube Shorts. Initially, creators will be able to type in prompts to generate backgrounds; eventually, YouTube says, creators will be able to remix and edit their existing content using AI tools to create something new.
At Made on YouTube, the company demonstrated Dream Screen, generating backgrounds in seconds based on short prompts.
AI tools will also begin informing what kind of content creators make. A new AI feature in YouTube Studio will generate topic ideas and outlines for potential videos. The AI suggestions will be personalized to individual creators, YouTube says, and based on what’s already trending with audiences. Additionally, an AI-powered music recommendation system will take a written description of a creator’s video and suggest audio to use.
Finally, YouTube announced an AI dubbing feature that will allow creators to dub their videos into other languages. YouTube brought over the Aloud team from its Area 120 incubator earlier this year to help make the feature.
The shift in how digital creators make content is already well underway since the explosion of cheap generative AI tools over the last year. As YouTube parent company Google has been pouring money into its generative AI systems, YouTube has also slowly introduced AI-powered tools including video summaries. On Google’s biggest product, Search, the company is already testing placing AI search results at the top in the form of Search Generative Experience.
The slew of new AI-powered YouTube products could mark a shift in how creators plan, make, and structure their content. AI-driven insights will likely shift what kind of content creators double down on, and AI-generated content — already viral on YouTube — will become more common. In response to the spread of convincing synthetic material, other platforms like TikTok have already introduced labels to identify AI-generated material as such.
YouTube is also making it easier for creators to make Shorts with a new YouTube Create app that it announced at the event.
Correction September 21st, 11:10AM ET: Removed an incorrect reference to the product as “Green Screen” instead of “Dream Screen.”
