YouTube replacing views with AI summary

[Kitch_]

I've been starting to get AI summaries when browsing my YT feed, but only for LTT videos.  In some cases, I feel like this could replace a view....it gives enough context to tell me exactly what is in the video from beginning to end, and to be honest, I have less desire to click on the video after reading the summary 9 times out of 10 since I feel like I get the gist of the video already. 

 

Anybody else seeing these?

[Needfuldoer]

Ugh, great. More "let AI pay attention and think for you" brain rot garbage. 

 

AI should be automating boring repetitive tasks, not our idle YouTube browsing.

[porina]

Haven't seen it on any channel I watch, but it could be useful for channels I don't normally follow to see if I even want to watch the video in the first place. I also wish that the transcript was presented in a more readable format.

 

Main problem with information videos as opposed to text is you can't skim it to see if what you're looking for is there.

[Timme]

A "Premium only" feature? They wouldn't care since no-ads and you're already paying them more anyway.

[Kitch_]

25 minutes ago, Timme said:

A "Premium only" feature? They wouldn't care since no-ads and you're already paying them more anyway.

 

Good point. Though I believe channels do get paid out for views from those signed up for premium. 

[Timme]

1 minute ago, Kitch_ said:

 

Good point. Though I believe channels do get paid out for views from those signed up for premium.

Oh, it absolutely fucks the creators.

[im_livegolf]

Good morning everyone! I had never seen this before, so wanted to share. This looks to be an experimental feature of YouTube, where it'll summarize some aspects of a product and link to videos that review it. Each screenshot shows, in order, the way the key points were presented.

[TetraSky]

The AI really said it competes with Timbuktu... Come on, it's Timbuk2. The brand. Not the city.

 

These AI summaries of videos about the backpack are weird...

[wONKEyeYEs]

Actually gets lighter the more you put in it.

[Mark Kaine]

On 4/25/2025 at 3:31 PM, Needfuldoer said:

Ugh, great. More "let AI pay attention and think for you" brain rot garbage. 

 

AI should be automating boring repetitive tasks, not our idle YouTube browsing.

It's basically literally spoiler alert. Minus the alert.

[Blasty Blosty]

On 4/25/2025 at 3:11 PM, Timme said:

Oh, it absolutely fucks the creators.

Premium benefits the creators?

[Kisai]

On 4/25/2025 at 6:31 AM, Needfuldoer said:

Ugh, great. More "let AI pay attention and think for you" brain rot garbage. 

 

AI should be automating boring repetitive tasks, not our idle YouTube browsing.

eh. I think there might be SOME value in it, but not really enough to justify it on just anything.

 

a) News/Media - archived hour long news videos

b) Podcasts - 3+ hour podcasts if you want to just find the piece you're looking for

 

Most anything else under 30 minutes I think it's a waste of time. But also inversely, they're going to waste a lot of computing resources on this just like when they do auto-captions on video game footage that is both already dubbed and captioned.

 

Let the owner of the channel opt-in. Period. Google keeps forcing this AI crap on by default, and also wants to charge you for using it. They increased google workspace prices substantially with this and my client is like "I turned that crap off, and they still want to charge me for it."

 

[Timme]

3 hours ago, Blasty Blosty said:

Premium benefits the creators?

I was talking about an AI summary. Know nothing boot no Premium.

[LogicalDrm]

I actually can see some good from this. Since it counters click-bait/shock titles and thumbnail by providing summary. It could battle deceptive content. This ofc would require that Google doesn't actively tweak model to remove or block certain keywords. Which is unlikely. But if you think back with the major criticism or removing upload dates or thumbs-down functions, both of them were commented of being major function to allow viewers to see whether video was good, accurate or up-to-date content. 

[LogicalDrm]

@im_livegolf I merged your thread into this one posted few days earlier. The subject is essentially same, Youtube using AI to summarize videos. Your example is about videos which are reviewing backbacks.

[ThousandBlade]

I actually like having the option.

Some video just take too long to get to the point. they go on and on and on about other stuff.

 

One recent example that came to mind is I was researching about an aftermarket car part, I was watching all the videos on it to see if it's any good.

Ran into multiple videos about it, but large segments videos is them talking about what their plan is for the channel, interacting with comment from previous video and what they had for dinner last week.

The information I needed was only like 5 minutes of the whole video, but it's impossible to scrub through since the video is just this guy talking. With AI summary I can skim through info that's irreverent to me, but I can't skim through listening, even at 3x speed I'll still have to sit through a bunch of stuff i'm not interested in.

[05032-Mendicant-Bias]

I still don't see this youtube feature, but I do it manually. I get the transcript, then use a local model to do the recap.

 

It's very useful when people pass me videos via messaging apps, and I need to see what they are about, if I have doubt I watch them but the recap is usually good enough for the kind of talking head videos about news and finance that gets passed to me this way.

 

It doesn't really work well for longer and visual videos, like documentaries and generally videos worth watching in full. Models still have trouble with long context, and I doubt even google is processing key frames description.

 

E.g. I did this with Qwen3 A3B Q4 model at 20 000 context window on my 7900XTX. Online free LLMs usually limit the context window to a point it can't do recap of meaningfully long transcripts.

 

 

Spoiler

Introduction
This video covers a range of tech news updates, from content moderation experiments on YouTube to AI advancements, geopolitical moves in chip manufacturing, and quirky product developments. The host blends humor with critical analysis of industry trends and their implications.

Meaningful Sections

Section 1: Content Moderation and Privacy Debates

• YouTube is testing blurred thumbnails for mature content to help users avoid sensitive material, though users can unblur them if desired.
• A lobbying group (Coalition for a Competitive Mobile Experience) argues that age verification should be handled by platform providers like Apple/Google, not app developers.

Section 2: AI Developments and Ethical Concerns

• Meta launched an AI conference, unveiling updates to its chatbot, including a mobile app with voice features and social feeds, sparking comparisons to Apple’s past controversial moves.
• Wikipedia plans to use AI for administrative tasks but not content creation, emphasizing human oversight.
• Open-source AI tools like Flight (by Freepick and Foul.ai) aim to use licensed data, while an experimental sci-fi film incorporates ethical AI practices.

Section 3: Geopolitical Tech Moves

• Taiwan’s law restricts TSMC from exporting advanced chip tech, but the company still builds a new Arizona facility using its N2 process.
• Finland bans student smartphone use at school, except under strict conditions like viral TikTok content.

Section 4: Industry Changes and Corporate News

• Tesla’s Model Y is exempt from auto tariffs due to its 85% domestic content rating, highlighting shifting trade policies.
• Nintendo’s Switch 2 updates close a loophole allowing dual-console game access, disappointing some users.
• Android 16 introduces iOS-like frosted glass UI elements, sparking backlash over dark mode aesthetics.

Section 5: Quirky Tech and Consumer Products

• The “Side Phone” offers a minimalist design with a physical keypad and long battery life, appealing to those seeking simplicity.
• Smart rings like the “Raw Ring” track physiological data for couples but raise questions about privacy and spoofing risks.

Section 6: Opera Browser Innovations

• Opera 1 R2 introduces features like a customizable music player, Tab Traces, and an AI tool (Arya) to enhance browsing efficiency.

Conclusion or Final Thoughts
The video highlights the fast-paced evolution of tech, balancing serious issues like AI ethics and regulation with lighthearted updates on gadgets and corporate moves. It underscores the tension between innovation, privacy, and user control in a rapidly changing digital landscape.

 

 

[james404]

Honestly, I think it's cool tech but not great for creators. If people stop watching because they already "got it," that could hurt views big time.

[YoungBlade]

It really depends on the video for whether or not this would hurt creators.

 

For click-bait videos where they have a basic point and waste 10 minutes to get to it, this is pretty much a death blow if the AI can get it right. And frankly, I'm not exactly feeling much sympathy for those creators. They are wasting human lifetimes worth of our time for something that could be summed up in a sentence, all to get mid-roll ad revenue.

 

However, the class of video it might hurt is insightful edu-tainment. Think Veritasium, Lemmino, or Kyle Hill - sometimes the video does have a seemingly simple point, but the surrounding information and context are important to fully grasp the concept. Someone who simply reads the summary will think they understand it, but they really don't without the extra context.

 

The line between these can seem blurry, and if you aren't familiar with the channel, it could be easy to dismiss a genuinely good video as "click-bait" when it really isn't.

 

CGP Grey's airport runway numbers video is a great example of something where the summary might be harmful. The video could be summed up as "Runways are numbered with the first two digits of the compass heading of the plane when landing" but this misses all of the context for why this system is in place and why it makes sense that the video provides.

 

As for LTT, I doubt this will hurt most of the main channel videos. Most of them are about spectacle as much as substance. Getting a cliff-notes version isn't a substitute for the entertainment. Techquickie, on the other hand, might have a problem with retention.

[Avocado Diaboli]

On 4/25/2025 at 3:28 PM, Kitch_ said:

it gives enough context to tell me exactly what is in the video from beginning to end, and to be honest, I have less desire to click on the video after reading the summary 9 times out of 10 since I feel like I get the gist of the video already. 

So you also don't watch movies after having seen the trailers? You don't play games after reading the description on Steam and reading a couple of user reviews? Because after all, you already know the gist of everything by doing that.

 

Honestly, this reminds me of Linus' asinine habit of "not watching the video but reading the comments, so he basically knows what the video is about". It substitutes actually engaging with a piece of media and trying to understand it by proxy. The same way how this AI summary completely misses the point of why at least I personally watch videos. And it's another instance of AI being a solution looking for a problem. 

 

As for videos whose information content can be summed up like this to the point where it substitutes watching the video entirely, that's an issue with how YouTube rewards creators. All the techniques that people use to pad out their videos for more add integrations or chances to elicit reactions and drive engagement are employed because YouTube rewards them. Never mind that if this AI summary causes people to watch fewer videos, guess whose ad revenue will decline.

[Mark Kaine]

9 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

So you also don't watch movies after having seen the trailers? You don't play games after reading the description on Steam and reading a couple of user reviews? Because after all, you already know the gist of everything by doing that

Yeh, but that's the thing I don't watch YouTube videos that don't have a clear description of their contents, because it's probably just click bait anyways, no need to read some ai nonsense that spoils everything to me...

 

And yes, most trailers are so bad that I already know I'm not going to like it...so thanks for saving me money, I guess?  (So, yes, I clearly avoid this stuff, but sometimes it happens, and usually with above described effect lol)

 

Ps: reviews and descriptions are fine, because you need to specifically seek those, can't do that with "ai" being plastered all over the place (see ops screenshots)

 

Also.... The way I get infos about games is I check the mods....then I know if I want to play it and possibly issues.... Basically unfiltered truth without any (usually) fanboying.

 

Don't watch movies.... Since decades.... Hollywood is dead to me, so predictable and no good special effects anymore (rip Silicone Graphics T^T)

 

9 hours ago, Avocado Diaboli said:

Never mind that if this AI summary causes people to watch fewer videos, guess whose ad revenue will decline.

Heh, I don't think they care with how out of touch they are, maximum annoyance seems to be their main goal!