YouTube Shorts viewers might soon see AI versions of their favorite creators when scrolling through their feeds. YouTube CEO Neal Mohan announced on Wednesday that creators will soon be able to make Shorts using their own likeness.
“This year you’ll be able to create a Short using your own likeness, produce games with a simple text prompt, and experiment with music,” Mohan wrote in his annual letter. “Throughout this evolution, AI will remain a tool for expression, not a replacement.”
Shorts, which Mohan said now averages 200 billion daily views, is one of YouTube’s most popular mediums. The company continues to invest in Shorts to sustain its viewership. While YouTube didn’t share additional details about these likenesses, the new capability will join the platform’s current AI tools for Shorts, including the ability to generate AI clips, AI stickers, AI auto-dubbing, and more.
YouTube will also equip creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content, according to Mohan.
While YouTube will allow creators to feature their own likeness in their videos, the Google-owned platform recently launched technology to prevent others from using it. Last October, YouTube rolled out likeness-detection technology to eligible creators to identify AI-generated content featuring the likeness of creators, such as their face and voice. Creators can then request the removal of AI-generated content.
As with other social platforms, YouTube has dealt with the spread of AI slop. Mohan says the company is working to maintain a high-quality viewing experience.
“Over the past 20 years, we’ve learned not to impose any preconceived notions on the creator ecosystem,” Mohan wrote. “Today, once-odd trends like ASMR and watching other people play video games are mainstream hits. But with this openness comes a responsibility to maintain the high quality viewing experience that people want. To reduce the spread of low quality AI content, we’re actively building on our established systems that have been very successful in combatting spam and clickbait, and reducing the spread of low quality, repetitive content.”
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YouTube is also set to expand Shorts with new formats, including image posts, which are already popular on TikTok and Instagram Reels.
