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

YouTube logo on smartphone flanked by earbuds
(Image credit: Shutterstock)

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.

Learn about the conversational AI tool on YouTube! - YouTube Learn about the conversational AI tool on YouTube! - YouTube
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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. 

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Josh Render
Staff Writer

Josh is a staff writer for Tom's Guide and is based in the UK. He has worked for several publications but now works primarily on mobile phones. Outside of phones, he has a passion for video games, novels, and Warhammer. 

  • purposelycryptic
    I already subscribe, but I absolutely can't see any value added by this for me - it seems more like a way for them to get bulk testing data on Gemini's video analysis capabilities under the guise of a feature addition.
    Reply