Summary
- YouTube is experimenting with AI-generated comment topic sorting to enhance user engagement and content inspiration.
- Selected creators can now categorize comments on Shorts by topics, providing a quick overview of conversations.
- AI is being integrated into Shorts comments following positive feedback from long videos, expanding the feature.
Almost one year after testing AI-generated video summaries designed to give a quick overview of a video, YouTube is now experimenting with a new feature in the comment section. It is no news that the online video-sharing platform is interested in bolstering Shorts, its answer to TikTok, or that its parent company, Google, has a penchant for artificial intelligence. So it should come as no surprise that YouTube has announced a new test for Shorts, involving the use of AI.
YouTube wants you to use an AI-generated green screen in its latest Shorts test
The tool is only available to a small number of creators, but we have a workaround
This time, YouTube is trying out a new feature that utilizes AI to categorize comments by topics. According to an update by the YouTube team on June 7, the latest experiment will give users a better understanding of conversations in the comment section (via PhoneArena). Comments on Shorts will be grouped by AI-generated Topics, allowing anyone to jump on topics of interest without having to deal with exhaustive comments on different subjects.
The AI-generated comment summaries are currently in the hands of a select few users via limited server-side testing, a common practice in YouTube’s feature experiments. Chosen creators in this trial will notice a new option in comment sections, enabling them to sort by topics on some Shorts. In addition to increasing viewer engagement, creators can also draw inspiration for new content from the topics that take shape in the comment section. It is important to note that the test is currently limited to mobile users, and the topics originate from published comments. Furthermore, the feature is currently only available on selected Shorts with large comment sections.
Although the topics populate automatically, creators are able to keep or remove unwanted ones. YouTube designed the feature to let content authors delete the comments categorized under a specific subject matter.
A second test for YouTube Shorts within a week
YouTube is integrating AI into Shorts’ comments after rolling out the feature within large comment sections on long videos. The Google-owned video-sharing platform is expanding the feature to Shorts following positive feedback from the long-form video. Also, the company recently announced that it is testing AI-generated green screen backgrounds in Shorts. Tagged Dream Screen, the feature lets Shorts creators create backgrounds of their choice by typing their ideas in the tool.
Similar to Topics in Shorts’ comment section, the green screen background was also rolled out to a small number of Shorts creators. If you notice some differences on your YouTube mobile app, you may be one of the selected few for the ongoing experiments.
