YouTube Introduces Conversational AI Feature for Premium Subscribers

Get Ready to Talk to the YouTube App

YouTube Premium Raises Global Prices and Tests a Cheaper Plan Google is bringing a conversational artificial intelligence (AI) feature to YouTube to let you ask questions about videos, starting with the Android app first. Google said last year it would bring conversational AI to YouTube, powered by its generative machine learning models, and now it's making good on that promise. Conversational AI lets you ask various questions about the currently watched video without leaving the YouTube app, like asking about the ingredients in a cooking video. The algorithm analyzes the contents of the video, allowing you to ask questions about it. Responses are generated by large language models (LLMs) using both information from YouTube and the web. "Use it to dive deeper into the content you love by asking questions about what you're watching or for recommendations for similar videos," YouTube wrote on Twitter/X. It's like an AI-powered search in Google Photos and Apple Photos, but only for video. Hitting the Ask button under the video player lets you pick a suggested prompt or write your own. To submit feedback about the response, hit the thumbs-up or thumbs-down icon. You can also report a response for legal reasons by choosing "Report legal issues" after giving it a thumbs-down. Your feedback will be reviewed by "specially trained teams," Google says. Google collects data "around your use of the tool and the queries and feedback that you submit." Queries are saved in your Google Account for 45 days, and humans may read them as part of product improvement. Automated tools disconnect a query from your account and strip away personally identifiable information, like email addresses and phone numbers, before a human reviewer sees it. The fine print: "Conversations that are disconnected from your Google Account and have been reviewed by human reviewers aren't deleted automatically after 45 days. These conversations are kept separately for up to three years." We don't like it when companies show anything related to AI down our throats, but this has got to be one of the better use cases for AI. Being able to ask about things seen in a video could save a lot of time compared to traditional search engines. I know perfectly well how I'll be using this feature when it expands to iOS: video summaries! I'm curious to test how they work considering there's a whole cottage industry of videos that summarize other popular YouTube videos that this feature could render obsolete. Conversational AI is being rolled out in a limited fashion, starting with the Android app first (no clarity on when it might expand to iOS). The tool is currently restricted to the English language and "some academic learning videos," according to YouTube Help. Most importantly, you must be a YouTube Premium member to get early access to YouTube's AI feature. Google hasn't said whether the final version of this feature might be available without a Premium subscription. Conversational AI is currently unavailable outside the United States, and you must be older than 18 to use it on your Android device. Source: Google via 9to5Google

YouTube's new AI chatbot: Ask what videos are about so you don't have to watch them

A little over a week after Google's "Made by YouTube" event, the company is starting to roll out its conversational AI chatbot on the platform. Dubbed the "Ask" button, this new generative AI feature is currently available exclusively to YouTube Premium subscribers on Android. First teased late last year, the "Ask" button is a mobile-only tool that allows users to interact with the videos they're watching in a whole new way. According to a demo posted by YouTube on X (formerly known as Twitter), the AI can, for instance, pull up an ingredient list from a cooking tutorial or provide more details about a music video. For anyone eager to try out YouTube's new AI feature, there's a catch: it's not available on every video. According to YouTube's support page, the "Ask" button only works on "select English videos," which means it's accessible on just 28% of the platform's nearly 3.9 billion videos -- so good luck tracking those down. On the bright side, if you're not a YouTube Premium subscriber, the AI tool is still available on some academic learning videos, giving non-paying users a limited chance to experience it firsthand. The Ask button appears below the video player as a pill-shaped option next to the Share button. However, it has also been spotted as a swipeable option within the comments box. As mentioned above, the tool is also only available on Android devices, with no word yet on whether it's coming to web or iOS.

YouTube's conversational AI starts rolling out, but only to Premium subscribers on Android

YouTube has started rolling out its conversational AI feature that can answer questions about the video you're already watching. The newly available feature will only be available for those who pay for YouTube Premium and use an Android device to watch. YouTube mentioned that it would be rolling out a conversational AI feature sometime late last year. Since then, the water has been quiet with Bard switching to Gemini in the meantime. The feature was said to be a standalone tool that could allow users to ask questions about the video for answers before actually finishing it. YouTube has officially announced that users in the US will begin to see the conversational AI tool popping up on their devices. One caveat, of course, is that YouTube Premium members will seemingly get this opportunity for the time being, with no word on whether it will expand to more users in and outside of the US. The new AI feature appears subtly in the YouTube app. We are currently seeing the feature available on our personal devices. The comments bubble on Android will show a secondary page dot. Swiping left on the comments card will reveal a new card called "Ask." You can tap the entire card to reveal a new page that looks like any other chatbot page. Alternatively, hitting "Summarize video" will immediately enter that command into the chatbot, resulting in a synopsis of YouTube's AI model. YouTube hasn't made it clear what specific model it's using, but it's presumably powered in some form by Gemini.

YouTube's handy generative AI tool is available after a long wait

YouTube's unblockable ads seen again as Google changes stance on extensions Key Takeaways YouTube is now rolling out its conversational AI tool to Premium subscribers in the US. However, the feature is only available to users with an Android device for now. This long-awaited AI tool is powered by a large language model, and its responses are based on data from YouTube and the web. Like most Google products, YouTube has seen a wide array of generative AI-related features appear over the past several months. Most new features make it to the app in the form of an experiment, with Premium subscribers usually getting first dibs on them. Similarly, YouTube announced a conversational AI tool late last year that would let users get answers about the video even before it's finished. We didn't hear much about it until June when YouTube re-announced this tool as a US-exclusive experiment for Premium subscribers. Nearly three months have passed since then, and YouTube appears to be finally ready to roll out this experiment. Related YouTube Premium is getting a big price hike internationally Premium gets more premium 54 While it's unclear what led to the feature's abrupt disappearance (and subsequent appearance), YouTube announced on X/Twitter that the generative AI-based "Ask" button is officially available to Premium subscribers in the US, provided they have an Android device (via 9to5Google). There's no word on when it will be available on the web and iOS or if this experiment will ever be available outside the US. But if you live in the US and have YouTube Premium, this new button should appear on select videos. A support page mentions that this Ask button will be visible "for select English videos." This means you may have a hard time figuring out which video supports this particular feature, at least initially. The same support page mentions that this tool is available for "non-Premium members on some academic learning videos." Video recommendations and more YouTube also shared a video explaining how this new feature works. On top of getting info on the video you're watching, you can also use the tool to get recommendations for similar videos. This can be achieved with the help of a suggested prompt, which is paired with another preset prompt that lets you summarize the video. As one would expect, this conversational AI tool is powered by a large language model or LLM, with data from YouTube and the web used to deliver responses. The Ask button appears below the video player as a pill-shaped button next to Share. However, in 9to5Google's experience, it supposedly appears as a swipeable option in the comments box. We're unsure if this is intended functionality or whether YouTube is still working out the appropriate placement for this long-awaited Ask button.

YouTube is giving you one more reason to go Premium

YouTube really wants folks to subscribe to YouTube Premium. Flooding free YouTube with ads wherever possible and blocking ad blockers are all ways Google is applying to ensure you hit that subscribe button when prompted for the 100th time. But this latest addition is somewhat of a positive push towards Premium. After raising prices for the subscription, YouTube now wants to give Premium users an AI experience that non-subscribers won't get. Previously in an experimental stage, the new conversational AI tool is now going wide to YouTube Premium users in the US. It's only available on the Android app, though. Users can fire up the tool to explore videos in more depth. For instance, if you're watching a recipe, you can ask questions like "What ingredients are they using?" You can also ask it to summarize a video or recommend related content. To use the new tool, tap the "Ask" button under the video player. You can then choose from one of the prompts or pose your own question. The principal is akin to the Ask Photos feature in Google Photos. Powered by Gemini, Ask Photos lets you interact with the Google Photos app in your natural language. It seems Google is looking to implement similar AI tools across its portfolio of software services and devices to make them more appealing to paying customers. Is AI an attractive enough reason for you to get YouTube Premium or pay more for the service in the future? Let us know in the comments.

Too long, didn't watch? YouTube's AI chatbot will answer your questions about the video

Have a question about a YouTube video you didn't understand or just didn't want to sit through? You can ask the AI chatbot rolling out from the video platform to answer all those questions, at least if you're a Premium subscriber on an Android device. The AI, likely fueled by Google's Gemini AI models, can summarize and expand upon any aspect of the video on your screen, like a friend who just memorized every video on the platform. The chatbot incorporates AI into your viewing on the YouTube app through a card in the comments section. You can swipe through them to find the Ask card, opening up a place for texting with the chatbot. There, you can ask for a summary or engage in a conversation about the video. YouTube envisions people asking the AI to explain what the video is about, clarify any details, and recommend more videos. Theoretically, it could help video creators who would otherwise have to moderate the comment section for people asking questions or looking for more information. The chatbot fits right into both YouTube and Google's overall strategy to make Gemini-powered AI tools ubiquitous in your life, especially on your smartphone. YouTube has released or is working on releasing features like AI-powered chatbots mimicking famous people and fictional characters and a tool to help you skip to the most popular part of a video. That's on top of the avalanche of creator AI features like an AI music generator, which ties together with one that can remove copyrighted music from your video without taking it down completely. You can even ask an AI chatbot for inspiration for your next video and use the upcoming Dream Screen AI to create backgrounds for the video. At the rate Google is moving, AI will become as central to making and watching videos on YouTube as the standard plea to like and subscribe heard at the end of 99% of videos on the platform.

YouTube Premium just got a big AI upgrade for Android -- here's the new features

YouTube has introduced a new AI feature for YouTube Premium users that adds a new way to interact with videos. However, it's only available for Android users in the US. There are many good reasons to sign up for a YouTube Premium membership, be it the chance to view videos without ads or easily save your favorite vids for offline viewing. However, a new feature reported by Android Authority uses AI to allow viewers to ask questions about the video they are watching. This new feature, which was previously only in the experimental phase, was announced for official release on the TeamYouTube X account. This new conversational AI tool introduces an Ask button under the video player. When pressed, this button allows users to select from several questions, or posit their own, about the video. The AI is powered by Google Gemini and can be used to inquire about certain parts of a video. For instance, you can ask which ingredients have been used in a cooking video. And this isn't all the AI can do. The YouTube Premium AI can also fully summarize the video for users, or recommend related content. It will be interesting to see if the AI's recommendations are more accurate than the base recommendations we see in the free version. This announcement comes after YouTube revealed several new AI capabilities, including Google DeepMind's Veo, which gives creators new ways to generate 6-second standalone video clips and more. There are many reasons to subscribe to YouTube Premium, but one of the major ones is avoiding the sheer amount of ads. YouTube is adding ads to their video pause screens. We also know that YouTube's updates have seemingly made watching videos with an adblocker impossible with videos skipping to the end. The company has claimed that this was never the intent, but rather a result of it. The AI, alongside all the other features, might be enough to push users to subscribe to YouTube Premium in the U.S., especially as they seem to be free and clear of the recent YouTube Premium price hike. For the best experience, we have a list of the best Android phones that offer an unparalleled viewing experience.