Yelp Introduces AI-Generated Videos: A New Era of User-Generated Content

Your Next Yelp Reviews May Include an AI Video - With a Catch

The AI videos use large language models to grab text from reviews on an establishment and turn it into an AI-voiced narration (courtesy of ElevenLabs) and captions (courtesy of Amazon Transcribe). Then Yelp uses uploaded photos from user reviews to create a slideshow-like display of what you can eat, drink or dance to. As far as oversight of these AI videos go, neither reviewers nor businesses appear to have any say. Companies can't see the AI videos before they are generated or offer input, and users can't decline to have their reviews or photos used, which raises a number of privacy questions. Viewers of the AI videos will have the choice to report a video as inaccurate or containing offensive content. And Yelp has said that it will be doing broad audits of the videos, which will be periodically updated for establishments as more reviews and photos come in. Speaking to The Verge, Yelp CPO Craig Saldanha said that the company wants to create as many videos as possible, although your own activity on Yelp will dictate whether you see the videos and which ones are shown. If we find any way for you to opt out of having your review content -- possibly from years past -- used in these videos, we'll be sure to let you know. Yelp did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Your Next Yelp Visit May Include an AI Video -- With a Catch

The AI videos use large language models to grab text from reviews on an establishment and turn it into an AI-voiced narration (courtesy of ElevenLabs) and captions (courtesy of Amazon Transcribe). Then Yelp uses uploaded photos from user reviews to create a slideshow-like display of what you can eat, drink or dance to. As far as oversight of these AI videos goes, neither reviewers nor businesses appear to have any say. Companies can't preview the AI videos before they are generated or offer input, and users can't decline to have their reviews or photos used. That may raise some privacy red flags, but Yelp is able to use content that's posted to their site like this, something users should keep in mind when making future reviews. Viewers of the AI videos will have the choice to report a video as inaccurate or containing offensive content. Yelp has said that it will conduct broad audits of the videos, which will be periodically updated for establishments as more reviews and photos come in. Speaking to The Verge, Yelp CPO Craig Saldanha said that the company wants to create as many videos as possible, although your own activity on Yelp will dictate whether you see the videos and which ones are shown. If we find any way for you to opt out of having your review content -- possibly from years past -- used in these videos, we'll be sure to let you know. When CNET reached out to Yelp to learn more, Craig Saldanha, Yelp's Chief Product Officer had a few tips for users. "The new AI-Stitched videos offer another way for that content to be surfaced and seen by the community," he told us. "The videos are periodically refreshed and only use content on the platform. If users prefer not to have their photos featured in upcoming AI-Stitched videos they can remove those photos from Yelp at any time. "

Yelp is creating its own AI videos about restaurants

Jay Peters is a news editor covering technology, gaming, and more. He joined The Verge in 2019 after nearly two years at Techmeme. Yelp is going to use AI to stitch together user-posted content about restaurants, food, and nightlife businesses to make short videos about those businesses. The company initially started testing the AI-stitched videos last year, but they're now available nationwide on the iOS app's TikTok-like vertically scrolling home feed. Business operators can't currently see the videos that are generated for users, and Yelp users also can't currently opt out of having their photos or videos show up in Yelp's AI-stitched videos. Yelp relies on multiple generative AI tools to create the finished product, as OpenAI LLMs write the text descriptions and narrator's script, put together story topics, and proofread, while ElevenLabs is used to generate the narrator's voice and Amazon Transcribe creates the synchronized on-screen captions. You can get an idea of what they're like in the below video shared by Yelp. The vertical video blends together videos and images with an AI-generated voiceover and AI-generated captions to talk about things like the restaurant's food, cocktails, and ambiance. Yelp wants to make "as many videos as possible," Yelp CPO Craig Saldanha tells The Verge, but will only make them if a restaurant has enough reviews, photos, and videos to tell a compelling story. Yelp relies on personalized signals to determine when to actually show the videos to you. The videos themselves are not personalized, even though they are eventually refreshed -- there is only one active AI-stitched video about a single business live at a time, according to Saldanha. If a user or a business feels that an AI-stitched video is inaccurate or offensive, Saldanha says they can report it by tapping the three dots in the top right corner of the video. Yelp does periodic audits "at scale" as well. The AI-stitched videos follow other AI-focused features from Yelp, like review summaries and review filters.

Yelp using AI to turn your foodie moments into quick restaurant videos

Next time you dive into Yelp to look for restaurants or other places to go, you might see some of your previously posted content turning up in the app's scrolling home feed. That's because Yelp is using AI to stitch together videos made up of users' photos, footage, and reviews about different places that you might want to visit. The crowdsourced review site started testing the system last year (you can see it in action in the video at the top of this page), The Verge reported, and now looks set to roll it out more widely. You'll be able to try the feature by scrolling through the home feed on Yelp's app and then tapping on a place that looks appealing. If an AI video is available, it'll start playing automatically. The video example above features an Italian restaurant called Cesarina. It shows, somewhat jarringly, a video clip of a dessert followed by a main dish (isn't it usually the other way around?), with an AI-generated voiceover offering an introduction to the eatery. The video also suggests checking out the restaurant's "pasta station" where "skilled hands shape the freshest ingredients into culinary masterpieces." Yelp's AI video combines footage and photos uploaded by users in their reviews of the restaurant, with the AI commentary also drawn from user comments. At the moment, it's not possible for reviewers to opt-out of having their content included in the AI videos. And if anyone viewing a video finds it offensive or inaccurate, they can easily report it by tapping the three dots at the top right of the display and adding their complaint. The new feature is a quick and easy way to get an overview of a range of places, and the better the uploaded content, the more chance that it has of appearing in the feed. For restaurants and other attractions, the videos could lead to an uptick in visitors, so it looks like a win-win for both parties.

A first look at Yelp's new AI-powered video feature

Yelp has begun utilizing artificial intelligence to transform user-generated content into short-form videos intended to highlight restaurants and other businesses. The videos, created from user-submitted photographs, video clips, and written reviews, will be featured within Yelp's home feed. The crowdsourced review platform initiated testing of this AI-driven video system during the previous year, according to a report by The Verge. The feature is now expected to be implemented on a broader scale. Users can access these AI-generated videos by navigating the home feed within the Yelp application and selecting a place of interest. If an AI video is available, it will automatically commence playback. An example video showcases Cesarina, an Italian restaurant. The video presents user-uploaded content in sequence, accompanied by an AI-generated voiceover. This voiceover uses text derived from user reviews. The video example displays a clip of a dessert followed by a main dish. The AI-generated voiceover introduces the restaurant and also highlights the restaurant's "pasta station," adding that, "skilled hands shape the freshest ingredients into culinary masterpieces." Yelp's AI video system combines visual content uploaded by users in their reviews with AI-generated commentary also extracted from user comments. Currently, reviewers do not have the option to exclude their content from inclusion in these AI-generated videos. Users who encounter offensive or inaccurate content within a video can report it utilizing the three-dot menu located in the top right corner of the display. The objective of this feature is to furnish users with a readily accessible and concise overview of various places. The quality of user-uploaded content directly influences its likelihood of being featured in the feed. For businesses, the implementation of these AI-generated videos has the potential to increase visitor traffic.