YouTube Premium subscribers can test two AI-driven features (including a chatbot)

YouTube is using its Premium subscribers as test subjects for a pair of AI-driven features. Viewers who access YouTube’s ad-free tier can now read AI-generated summaries that condense entire comment sections into “easily digestible themes.” A second, upcoming test will center around a “conversational AI tool.”

Those quotes come from a YouTube Help post attributed to a team member named Hazel. The current test is active on a “small number of videos in English that have large comment sections.” On those videos, comment sections are broken into individual topics. “Creators can use these comment summaries to more quickly jump into comment discussions on their videos,” reads the post, “or to draw inspiration for new content based on what their audiences are discussing.”

The post shows some example comment summaries from a participating MrBeast video. They included topics like “LazarBeam should be in more videos” and “no submarine.” Curious viewers can read individual comments if they want to learn what exactly “no submarine” means.

The second test will launch for Premium subscribers “in the coming weeks.” The feature YouTube describes as a conversational AI tool sounds a lot like what we’d call a chatbot: It’s a resource for viewers who want “answers to questions about the video you’re watching” or “recommendations for related content.” Users will be able to continue their conversations with the chatbot without interrupting video playback. Before the Premium phase of testing launches, a small number of test subjects can see the chatbot on a small number of videos across YouTube.

YouTube has given its community plenty of reasons to join its Premium tier. Access to the two new features is an additional incentive for anyone who needs one — especially if you’re curious about YouTube’s ongoing embrace of AI-driven tools.