On Wednesday, during the Made on YouTube 2024 event in New York, YouTube announced a range of new AI-powered tools and features designed to elevate creators’ content creation experience and foster deeper connections with their audiences. These innovations are part of YouTube’s ongoing effort to harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to empower creators, drive engagement, and expand creative possibilities.
Johanna Voolich, YouTube’s Chief Product Officer, highlighted the transformative impact of AI for creators, asserting that it will introduce new avenues for “expression” and will “connect people, spark creativity, and enhance business growth,” and support new voices.”
Here’s an in-depth look at the new features unveiled during the event:
1) Veo for Dream Screen: AI-Generated Visuals for YouTube Shorts
Dream Screen, which debuted last year, now integrates with Google DeepMind’s advanced video generation model, Veo. This new development allows creators to produce highly realistic backgrounds and 6-second standalone video clips for YouTube Shorts. Veo can enable creators to step into fictional realms, such as creating immersive landscapes inspired by settings like The Secret Garden, making content visually captivating and dynamic.
To ensure transparency and maintain authenticity, Veo-generated content will include watermarks through Google’s SynthID technology, marking it as AI-created.
Availability: Veo will be incorporated into YouTube Shorts by the end of this year.
2) YouTube Studio’s Inspiration Tab Updates: A Curated Creative Assistant
The Inspiration Tab within YouTube Studio is getting a significant upgrade. It will now offer creators personalized suggestions for titles, thumbnails, and outlines tailored to their unique style. These AI-powered recommendations will help creators brainstorm new content ideas more effectively and elevate their creativity by aligning suggestions to their channel’s aesthetic and tone.
In addition, the updated Inspiration Tab will offer a shortcut feature that creators can access directly from comments, videos, or their own content to get suggestions quickly.
Availability: The shortcut to the Inspiration Tab will launch in early 2024.
3) Communities on Creator Channels: A Space for Engagement and Expression
A new Community section is being introduced on creator channel pages to allow deeper engagement between creators and their audiences. This space is designed for open discussion, sharing fan art, and fostering conversations around videos and topics. By cultivating an interactive environment, YouTube aims to enhance the relationship between creators and their subscribers.
Availability: Currently live on select channels, the Communities feature will be available to more creators in early 2025.
4) Community Hub Transformation: AI-Powered Fan Engagement
YouTube is set to revamp the Comments tab in YouTube Studio, transforming it into a full-fledged Community Hub. This new hub will be focused on fan engagement, with creators being able to interact with their fans in more dynamic ways. One of the key features is AI-powered reply suggestions, which will offer customizable, pre-generated responses, helping creators manage and reply to large volumes of comments quickly.
Other upcoming features include community spotlights and audience metrics, which will provide creators with better insights into their fan interactions.
Availability: The revamp is underway, with more features coming soon.
5) Hype for Rising Stars: Amplifying Smaller Creators
YouTube’s Hype feature is a fresh initiative to support rising creators. Positioned alongside the like button, the Hype button allows viewers to promote smaller creators, increasing their visibility on the platform. By clicking the Hype button, users can push creators onto a weekly leaderboard, helping them connect with a larger audience.
Availability: After initial tests in Brazil, Turkey, and Taiwan, Hype is expected to roll out more widely in the coming months.
6) Auto-Dubbing for Global Accessibility: Enhancing Multilingual Reach
One of YouTube’s most groundbreaking new tools is auto-dubbing, which allows creators to offer their videos in multiple languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, and Italian. The AI tool not only translates but also dubs content into these languages, making it accessible to a broader global audience.
YouTube is testing a new feature that replicates a creator’s tone and atmosphere in dubbed versions, providing a more natural feel.
Availability: Auto-dubbing will become accessible to hundreds of thousands of creators in the coming months.
7) YouTube Shopping Expansion: Broadening Global Reach
YouTube’s Shopping affiliate program, with over 250,000 creators on board, is growing at a steady pace. Initially available in the U.S. and South Korea, the program is now set to expand to Indonesia, with Thailand and Vietnam next in line. This expansion allows creators to promote products more effectively and grow their businesses across new markets, fostering a global creator economy.
Availability: The rollout is underway, with additional markets being added soon.
8) Jewels and Gifts for Fan Engagement: Enhancing Live Interactions
YouTube is adding a new feature called Jewels and Gifts to increase fan engagement during vertical livestreams. These digital items can be purchased by viewers, creating real-time interactions that support creators and provide them with a new revenue stream. By integrating these digital gifts, YouTube aims to further monetize vertical video content and boost livestream engagement.
Availability: Jewels and Gifts will first launch in the U.S., enhancing live interactions on vertical streams.
9) Opportunities in the Living Room: Enhancing Content for TV Screens
As more creators focus on TV-based content, YouTube has reported a 30% year-over-year increase in such videos. In response, YouTube is introducing several improvements for TV viewers, including the ability to organize content into seasons and episodes, making it easier to follow serialized videos.
Other upcoming improvements include better subscription options, a more streamlined TV viewing experience, and autoplay functionality from channel pages to enhance content discovery.
YouTube’s Commitment to Creators
During the event, Johanna Voolich reaffirmed YouTube’s dedication to supporting its creator community. She highlighted the success of YouTube’s Partner Program, which has distributed over $70 billion to creators, artists, and media companies in the last three years. As part of its ongoing commitment, YouTube is investing in expanding monetization options for creators across all content formats, including Shorts, livestreams, and TV-based content.
These new AI-driven tools are set to revolutionize how creators produce, share, and monetize their content on YouTube, providing them with more innovative ways to connect with audiences globally.
YouTube’s 2024 AI-powered innovations showcase the platform’s continued focus on enhancing the creator experience through technology. With features like auto-dubbing, Veo for Shorts, and new community engagement tools, YouTube is positioning itself as a leader in creator empowerment and audience interaction, all while ensuring creators have more opportunities to grow their presence and monetize their content in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.