YouTube believes that generative AI can provide inspiration for us mere humans, and it is applying that idea to the world of music streaming. YouTube Premium customers who want to find songs that suit a certain mood can employ a new feature that generates AI-created playlists.
The AI playlist generator is currently available on the iOS and Android versions of the YouTube Music app. The feature is powered by text-based prompts; YouTube explained in a tweet that users can “instantly turn an idea, mood or genre into a personalized playlist” by providing the AI engine with an initial suggestion.
For Spotify Premium subscribers, YouTube’s new tool will look familiar. On Spotify, AI-generated playlists inspired by a specific genre or mood are called Daylists, and they have become a cultural phenomenon since their initial launch in 2023. YouTube is not the first platform to draw inspiration from Spotify’s personalized playlists. TikTok’s Shared Feeds, announced late last year, resemble Spotify’s interpersonal Blends.
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YouTube’s attempt to play the copycat is a bit more complicated. The Google-affiliated platform has no shortage of AI-powered features, of course, but its open embrace of contentious technology has spawned a tidal wave of low-rent AI videos. The slop problem became so pronounced that YouTube had to hit some of the worst offenders with the ban hammer. It’s worth asking, amid that hubbub, whether YouTube users are ready for more AI tools.
Even though some reticence is warranted, YouTube is eager to make its Premium subscription as good of a deal as possible, especially on the YouTube Music side of the coin. To sweeten the pot for its paying customers, YouTube put lyrics behind the Premium paywall, and several other new features — some of which are AI-powered — have been made exclusive to its paid tier.
Here’s an idea YouTube can have free of charge: If it wants Premium users to get excited about AI playlists, it should apply the same technology to non-music videos. Playlists inspired by certain moods or vibes have the power to inspire generations, and it’s about time for YouTube itself to get in on the fun.
