YouTube Music Introduces AI Hosts: A New Era of Interactive Listening

YouTube Music is testing AI hosts that will interrupt your tunes

YouTube has a new Labs program, allowing listeners to "discover the next generation of YouTube." In case you were wondering, that generation is apparently all about AI. The streaming site says Labs will offer a glimpse of the AI features it's developing for YouTube Music, and it starts with AI "hosts" that will chime in while you're listening to music. Yes, really. The new AI music hosts are supposed to provide a richer listening experience, according to YouTube. As you're listening to tunes, the AI will generate audio snippets similar to, but shorter than, the fake podcasts you can create in NotebookLM. The "Beyond the Beat" host will break in every so often with relevant stories, trivia, and commentary about your musical tastes. YouTube says this feature will appear when you are listening to mixes and radio stations. The experimental feature is intended to be a bit like having a radio host drop some playful banter while cueing up the next song. It sounds a bit like Spotify's AI DJ, but the YouTube AI doesn't create playlists like Spotify's robot. This is still generative AI, which comes with the risk of hallucinations and low-quality slop, neither of which belongs in your music. That said, Google's Audio Overviews are often surprisingly good in small doses. To opt in, visit the new YouTube Labs landing page. After joining, the YouTube Music app will get a new button on the Now Playing screen with the familiar Gemini sparkle logo. Tapping that will allow you to snooze the commentary for an hour or the remainder of the day. There is no option to completely disable the AI host in the app, so you'll have to opt out of the test if you decide Beyond the Beat is more trouble than it's worth. We've been on the hunt for this AI host since opting into the test several hours ago, but the robot has yet to appear. YouTube says the feature is now live for a "limited number" of US testers to try, but it's possible the frequency of AI interruptions will change as Google gathers more data on how much people like (or don't) having a robot tell them about music. This is the only experiment available in YouTube Labs for now, but the company says more AI features will be added to Labs soon. This will help Google gather feedback to decide how to roll out the features widely. So if you have strong feelings about the AI host, it may be worthwhile to submit feedback from the Labs page. YouTube is accelerating its use of AI. On the video side, the site is working toward releasing a suite of AI video tools, and it automatically upscales some videos, much to the chagrin of uploaders.

YouTube Music tests AI hosts that share trivia and commentary

YouTube Music is testing AI music hosts that provide relevant stories, fan trivia, and commentary about what you're listening to, the company announced on Friday. The move comes two years after Spotify launched an AI DJ that delivers a curated selection of music alongside AI-powered spoken commentary about the tracks and artists you like. YouTube Music's new feature builds on its ongoing experiments with conversational AI. In July, the service rolled out an AI conversational radio feature that lets users create a custom radio station by describing what they want to hear. YouTube Music's new AI hosts are currently being tested through YouTube Labs, the platform's new hub for AI experiments. In a blog post, the company said YouTube Labs is "a new initiative dedicated to exploring the potential of AI on YouTube." YouTube Labs is similar to Google Labs, Google's experimental arm that lets users test early-stage AI products and provide feedback. YouTube Labs is open to all YouTube users, which means they don't need a Premium membership to sign up. However, the company notes that only a limited number of U.S.-based participants will get be given access to the experimental program. YouTube Labs has been implementing AI features across YouTube recently. Earlier this month, the company released a series of AI features for creators, including GenAI tools for Shorts creation. A few months ago, YouTube launched an AI-powered search results carousel similar to Google's AI Overviews and expanded access to its conversational AI tool to help users find more information, receive content recommendations, and get video summaries. While YouTube is embracing AI features, it's also cracking down on AI slop. The platform recently updated its policies to crack down on creators' ability to generate revenue from "inauthentic" content, including mass-produced videos and other types of repetitive content.

YouTube's new AI experiment adds AI hosts to your music

YouTube is adding AI hosts to radio and mixes in the YouTube Music app as part of a new test available through its new Labs program. The hosts are designed to "deepen your listening experience by sharing relevant stories, fan trivia, and fun commentary about your favorite music," YouTube says in a blog post. If you want to see if you're eligible to join YouTube Labs, which is dedicated to AI-focused experiments on the platform, to potentially try the feature out, check YouTube's website; through the program, "a limited number of US-based participants can test early prototypes and experiments," according the blog post. Even though I joined YouTube Labs, I don't seem to have access to the experiment myself. I've been playing YouTube Music off my phone for a little while writing this article, and I haven't heard the hosts just yet. Google has been steadily expanding the capabilities of the AI hosts with NotebookLM to help users review and study different topics, so trying out a similar idea to YouTube Music makes some sense. The new YouTube Labs program also follows Google's broader Labs program for its AI experiments. Today, YouTube also announced that some of its Premium-only features have expanded to more platforms. For example, the jump ahead feature, which uses AI to skip to the most interesting part of a video, is now "fully available" on YouTube for TV and game consoles, YouTube says. (The feature started showing up for some TV users earlier this year.)

YouTube's AI Hosts Can Now Talk to You About Your Music

Based in London, Will is passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives, with bylines in BBC News, Vice, and more. YouTube is currently trialing a new feature that will generate AI "hosts" that can comment on the music you're listening to, dubbed "Beyond the Beat." These AI music hosts are designed to deepen your listening experience by sharing relevant stories and fan trivia about what you're listening to on the YouTube Music app. For example, the story behind the events that inspired the lyrics, or when or how the band broke up -- like a good radio DJ. The tool comes as part of Google's YouTube Labs initiative, which is intended as a way to allow people to test-drive new experimental AI features. If you'd like to give the new feature a whirl, a prototype is already available, although you'll need to be a Premium subscriber based in the US for it to work. You'll need to head to the YouTube Labs website to sign up; once you do, a sparkling Google Gemini logo will appear as a button on the Now Playing screen, which you can use to toggle the feature off and on. Once you've opted into the experiment, you can't permanently turn the feature off, but you can choose to pause it for one hour or for one day. If you do want to try the feature out, you might not have long. Google made it clear that it may remove the experimental feature at any time. It is also only available to a limited number of users, so even if you meet all the criteria, you still may not be able to get it to work. Google isn't the first firm to try applying AI commentary to the world of music streaming. Spotify rolled out its AI DJ feature over two years ago, which not only generates commentary on what you're listening to, but can put together personalized playlists based on your tastes and listening history. Seeing this type of feature eventually coming to YouTube isn't too surprising; Google's got plenty of experience at this point using its generative AI for voice summaries. Since September 2024, NotebookLM introduced an Audio Overview feature that can summarize the material you input to generate conversations between two AI hosts. Meanwhile, since July, Google has been testing a new way to transform its AI-generated search results into "quick, conversational audio overviews for certain search queries."

YouTube Music is testing AI hosts that present relevant stories, trivia and commentary

YouTube just announced YouTube Labs, a "new way for users to take our cutting edge AI experiments for a test drive." This looks like a YouTube-centric version of the , which is another place for folks to test out experimental AI tools. There's already something new to play with here. YouTube Labs is testing AI hosts for its Music app. These hosts are designed to deepen a listening experience by providing "relevant stories, fan trivia and fun commentary about your favorite music." This is just the latest music-streaming platform to introduce AI hosts, as Spotify earlier this year. YouTube Labs is only available for Premium members. Sign-ups , but just for a "limited number of US-based participants." We don't have any data as to how many people will get accepted to join the AI tomfoolery. Regular YouTube users have probably noticed the these past several months. It's becoming a . While the prospect of virtual music hosts is rather innocuous, it will likely lead to even more AI being forced on the platform. YouTube recently added a boatload of , including the ability to turn spoken dialogue into a slop-filled song. It's also to AI and is testing of Google's famous AI overviews.

The first YouTube Labs experiment sounds like an answer to Spotfy's AI-powered DJ

YouTube says Labs is open to a "limited number of US-based participants." YouTube's got a new way for you to try experimental functionality early. In keeping with Google's programs like Search Labs, the streaming platform has announced an initiative it's calling YouTube Labs, an opt-in program that'll let you play around with new functionality before it's generally available. You can sign up for Labs now -- and its first experiment is already underway. In a short blog post, YouTube laid out the new program. YouTube Labs is "dedicated to exploring the potential of AI on YouTube," and is accepting a "limited number" of US users to get the ball rolling. These new Labs experiments aren't only about video: the first one is actually for YouTube Music. YouTube Labs participants now have the opportunity to try "AI music hosts" in Google's music streaming app. The feature brings to mind Spotify's AI-powered DJ: YouTube says its take on the idea will share stories, trivia, and commentary about the artists and songs you're listening to. We haven't had the chance to compare the two yet, though, so it's not clear how closely YouTube's implementation matches Spotify's. YouTube's announcement reads like space in YouTube Labs is limited. That said, I was able to sign up for Labs on three separate Google accounts, only one of which is subscribed to YouTube Premium. Still, if you're interested in checking out AI-powered YouTube features early, you might want to register for the new program sooner than later. Signups to try YouTube Labs are open now. You can register your interest at YouTube.com/new.

YouTube opens the doors to AI experiments, and Premium members get first dibs

YouTube used to let everyone test new features before they launched. In late 2020, though, early access became a benefit just for Premium subscribers. Now, YouTube is introducing YouTube Labs, a new space for experimental features. Premium subscribers will be the first to try out AI-powered tools before they become widely available. The first feature in YouTube Labs is an AI music host in the YouTube Music app called "Beyond the Beat" (via 9to5Google). These virtual hosts join radio streams or mixes to share artist trivia, song backgrounds, and commentary, similar to a DJ between songs. Since the commentary is generated by AI, it may not always be accurate. Limited rollout with hands-on controls For now, only a limited group of US-based users, mainly Premium subscribers, can access Labs. If you're among them, you'll see a new AI sparkle button in YouTube Music, located between the thumbs up/down and comment icons. Tap it to turn on the feature. Once it's on, the AI commentary stays active by default. You can still control it by snoozing the hosts for an hour or a whole day if you want a break. YouTube points out that Labs experiments might be removed at any time, and performance can vary since this is still early technology. YouTube Labs is unique because it is separate from Google Labs, which covers all of Google's AI research. Labs is designed just for YouTube, with plans that go beyond music commentary. By testing new features here, YouTube can quickly learn what works and what needs improvement based on real user feedback. With this new approach, YouTube is letting users help shape new features before they launch. Labs allows people to try out tools early and give feedback, including creators and power users. The AI Music Hosts are the first test, but they raise questions. Will listeners like the AI commentary, or find it distracting? Can the system share interesting facts without errors? These challenges are expected, and Labs is meant to test and improve with input from users.

YouTube Labs lets you test 'cutting edge AI,' starting with AI Music hosts

YouTube Labs is a "new way for users to take our cutting edge AI experiments for a test drive." For some time now, youtube.com/new has allowed YouTube Premium subscribers to test upcoming features ahead of time before the stable rollout, like more playback speed options. YouTube Labs is focused solely on "exploring the potential of AI on YouTube." Be among the first to discover the next generation of YouTube. Join YouTube Labs to try our latest AI experiments and prototypes. The first experiment adds AI hosts to YouTube Music that share "relevant stories, fan trivia, and fun commentary about your favorite music" as you "listen to radio & mixes." The aim of this early prototype is to "deepen your listening experience" with "relevant stories and insights." It's akin to DJs on the radio, while the NotebookLM and Gemini app Audio Overview inspiration is clear. Once enabled, the Now Playing screen will show a new button between the thumbs up/down and comment pills. The icon is an AI sparkle with two waves radiating from it. "Beyond the Beat" is enabled all the time if you opt-in to the experiment, but you can "Snooze for 1 hour" or "Snooze for a day." YouTube warns how this "AI commentary can contain mistakes." YouTube Labs exists as an item in youtube.com/new for a "limited number of US-based participants." These features "may be disabled without notice." Additionally: "Quality and accuracy may vary. Your feedback and interactions may be used to improve Google's products & services."

YouTube Music is testing a new feature that sounds a lot like Spotify's AI DJ

If you're a YouTube Music user in the US, then you may have an experimental new feature to test out in your account: It's being introduced as part of what YouTube is calling YouTube Labs, so it looks as though more experiments will be on the way in the future. YouTube Labs is apparently "dedicated to exploring the potential of AI on YouTube", and the first test to be pushed out is something called AI music hosts. These hosts are going to "deepen your listening experience" by sharing relevant stories, fan trivia, and "fun" commentary in between tracks in the YouTube Music app. As per the official announcement, it's open to a "limited number" of users in the US - we're not yet part of the group, so we can't tell you exactly how the feature works. However, it does sound similar to the AI DJ that's available as part of Spotify Premium. The folks over at 9to5Google have got the AI music hosts feature working, and it adds a new button to the now playing screen, just to the right of the thumbs up and thumbs down buttons. You can tap on this to enable AI-powered interjections. This seems to be a bit of a rebranding exercise rather than a completely new initiative. For some time now, YouTube Premium users have been able to head to www.youtube.com/new to test out a variety of experimental features. Now the same URL is being used for YouTube Labs, so it would seem it just has a new name and a new AI focus (surprise surprise). In fact, it didn't really have an old name - it was just referred to as an experimental features page. Past experiments have included more audio quality and playback speed options. While the YouTube blog post announcement doesn't specify that the features are exclusive to YouTube Premium, there is a YouTube Premium tag attached to the post, so presumably you need to be subscribing to take advantage of this first test. Past experiments have often been limited to specific regions and devices, but sometimes get rolled out to everyone, eventually. We'll have to wait and see exactly how this AI music hosts feature works, and what else is in the pipeline.

YouTube Music Takes on Spotify AI DJ with Its New AI Hosts

YouTube is also introducing YouTube Labs, where users can try out new and upcoming AI-powered additions to the app. YouTube Music is introducing a new AI host feature, which will talk you through stories, trivia, and commentary about your favorite tracks, similar to Spotify's popular AI DJ feature. YouTube Tests out AI Hosts and YouTube Labs After coming out with the "Ask for Music" feature earlier this March, which let users create custom radio stations using prompts, YouTube Music is now adding another AI-powered feature to the app. The new AI hosts that YouTube announced in its blog post will share interesting facts, tidbits, and other details of the songs that you love. This seems like YouTube's version of Spotify's AI DJ, which came out two years ago and offers the same functionality. However, given that the blog mentions "hosts," there is a possibility that there might be more than one host. I suspect that YouTube could be using the same NotebookLM AI podcast hosts for this feature. That said, the new AI hosts feature is available from the YouTube Labs program. This is similar to Google Labs, where users can try out experimental AI features. It is available for free, so it won't require a YouTube Premium membership. However, it is currently limited to US users only. Besides this, YouTube also introduced a bunch of new AI tools on YouTube Shorts this July. We also saw auto dubbing becoming available across the globe, with language translation for thumbnails arriving soon. So, slowly but surely, YouTube is expanding its catalogue of AI features. But what do you think about this? Will you try out the new AI hosts in YouTube Music? Let us know in the comments below.