YouTube Shorts launches AI avatar feature that creates photorealistic digital versions of creators

YouTube Shorts will use AI to make avatars that look and sound like you

YouTube is now letting users create an AI avatar that looks and sounds like them for use in Shorts. This feature was teased earlier this year. The creation process is available in the main YouTube app and YouTube Create. It involves capturing a "live selfie" by recording your face and voice (by reading a few prompts). This will give you a photorealistic avatar that can be placed in your YouTube Shorts. Each prompt-based generation can be up to 8 seconds long, though you can create multiple clips back-to-back. You only have to do the setup process once, but can retake at any time to update your appearance. Prompt and output The feature is a continuation of Google Veo models in YouTube Shorts. Something similar has been possible with the ingredients-to-video capability, which involves uploading a picture, since last year. However, the voice aspect is entirely new. YouTube tells 9to5Google that "the avatar feature gives users an easier way to include themselves safely and securely in videos." On the safety front, the selfie video and voice will only be used for avatar creation, and no one else can use the avatar to create original Shorts. You can delete your avatar at any time (with YouTube automatically deleting after 3 years of no use), but keep in mind that existing videos with your avatar will remain until the actual clip is deleted. All avatar videos will feature watermarks and digital labels, like SynthID and C2PA, as well as disclosures about AI-generated content. Once rolled out to you, open the Create '+' in the YouTube app and tap the Gemini spark in the corner. Select "Create video" in the top-left and look for "Make a video with my avatar" to enter your prompt. It's also available in the Remix menu > Reimagine > Add me to this scene. This feature is rolling out starting today globally (outside of Europe) for users 18+, with full availability in the coming days. You must be the owner of an existing YouTube channel to create an avatar.

Your YouTube Shorts can now star an AI version of you - Phandroid

YouTube CEO Neal Mohan teased it back in January. He said creators would be able to "create a Short using your own likeness" sometime this year. That time is now. YouTube has started rolling out the YouTube Shorts AI avatar feature globally, letting users generate a photorealistic digital version of themselves for AI-generated Shorts. No filming required. The setup process runs through the main YouTube app or YouTube Create. You record a live selfie of your face and read a few prompts to capture your voice. YouTube uses that to build an avatar that looks and sounds like you. Each AI-generated clip can run up to eight seconds. You can chain multiple clips together to build longer sequences. The setup only needs to happen once, but you can redo it anytime. To find the YouTube Shorts AI avatar feature, open the Create button and tap the Gemini spark. Select "Create video" in the top left and look for "Make a video with my avatar." It's also in the Remix menu under Reimagine. YouTube built a few guardrails around this. Your selfie video and voice data are only used for your own avatar. Nobody else can use your likeness to create Shorts. You can delete your avatar at any time. YouTube will also automatically delete it after three years of inactivity, though existing videos featuring the avatar stick around until you delete the individual clips. All YouTube Shorts AI avatar content gets watermarked with SynthID and C2PA labels, plus visible AI-generated content disclosures. We previously covered when YouTube first laid out its AI plans for creators, Veo-powered video tools have been central to YouTube's content creation push. The feature is rolling out now for users 18 and older, globally outside of Europe. Full availability should follow within days.