YouTube has unveiled new features powered by artificial intelligence that aim to significantly enhance users’ ability to discover relevant content more quickly and easily. Announced on Thursday, these enhancements include an innovative AI-driven search results carousel reminiscent of Google’s AI Overviews, alongside broader testing of its existing conversational AI tool.
Currently accessible exclusively to YouTube Premium subscribers in the United States, the AI-powered carousel presents a curated selection of video recommendations matched with concise, AI-generated topic summaries. This feature is particularly designed for searches related to shopping, places, or activities at specific locations. For instance, a query such as “best beaches in Hawaii” will trigger a carousel highlighting brief descriptions and clips spotlighting notable snorkeling locations, striking volcanic beaches, and other related video suggestions helpful for travel planning.
While this format is undoubtedly valuable to users, creators may view it with caution, given the potential to decrease viewer interactions with their content. As viewers become quickly satisfied with the summarizing information provided by the AI carousel, clicks on actual video links—and subsequent revenue from engagement—could drop.
This move from YouTube comes shortly after reports underscored the negative impact Google’s AI Overviews have had on news publishers, significantly reducing traffic to their websites. YouTube creators are likely to share similar concerns regarding this new carousel feature potentially dampening video engagement rates.
In addition to this search initiative, YouTube disclosed expanded availability of its conversational AI tool to a larger number of non-Premium users. Initially introduced in late 2023, this conversational assistant leverages large language models drawing on both YouTube and wider web content to enhance user experiences. Viewers engaging with educational videos, for example, can use the AI tool to summarize the material, get additional recommendations for related videos, or even self-test comprehension through AI-generated quizzes. The feature can respond flexibly to user questions, providing information about song titles, artists, genres, and more.
Through these AI integrations, YouTube seeks to deepen engagement and streamline content discovery for its increasingly demanding audience, positioning itself alongside other tech giants racing to integrate AI capabilities more seamlessly into everyday user experiences.
