Google's recent IO event showed how far the company is pushing into AI, with Gemini making its way into just about anything the tech giant touches.
And, while some of its efforts have certainly been impressive, AI overviews have remained more of a hindrance than a help in recent months. While they are getting better (at least according to Google), there's still some work to do.
Now, they're coming to YouTube to help you more quickly gain information. Here's all we've learned about the new feature and why it could end up proving controversial.
YouTube gains AI Overviews
YouTube Premium members can now see the new 'AI powered carousels', which are intended to help surface information more quickly.
It's a US-only feature for now, but when searching for something related to shopping, places, or things to do, it'll aim to highlight relevant clips from videos in a carousel you can flick through.
You can see it in action below.
Google's new YouTube blog post says "We're introducing a new AI-powered search results carousel to suggest videos and topic descriptions by creators across YouTube. Imagine searching for “best beaches in Hawaii” — you could see an AI-generated carousel highlighting clips from videos showcasing the best snorkel spots and volcanic beaches, complete with descriptions and more videos to plan your ideal day."
It remains to be seen how creators will react to the announcement. AI Overviews in Google search have seen a decline in clicks for websites because users don't need to visit the source of the information – a contentious subject for website owners and web-based businesses.
The potential for a similar effect is obvious – if you get the information you need, will you still watch the video? It's hard to say, but expect discussions to continue in the coming weeks if those view counts drop suddenly.
That's not all
Google is also testing its own chatbot-like conversational AI with more users in "the coming days", it explains.
"In the coming days, our conversational AI tool will be expanding to some non-Premium users in the US. Premium members already love it for getting more info, recommendations, and even quizzing themselves on key concepts in academic videos. Try it out to discover new videos or master unknown topics."
The chatbot will allow users to ask questions about a video, such as "What is this song?" or "Tell me more about this subject".
However things shake out, it's clear Google isn't done with AI by a long shot yet, but as the company faces continuous scrutiny over its practice of AI overviews taking clicks away from websites, it could be a bumpy road.
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