YouTube is adding another way for users to remix content with artificial intelligence. The platform's new tools will enable Shorts viewers to add themselves, or any other elements they like, into clips in order to build alternative context.
Using parent company Google’s new Omni AI image generation tools, YouTube users will now be able to easily generate alternate versions of Shorts videos.
As explained by YouTube: “This update makes Shorts remixing easier for both viewers and creators – whether you want to swap in your pet, put a fresh twist on a video with stylistic changes, or add yourself to a scene, these tools let you join trends and conversations in a whole new way.”
So now, if a viewer has an idea for an alternate element in a Shorts video, they’ll be able to generate that in-stream.
The feature feels somewhat similar to the Extend with AI option that YouTube announced in September, which enabled viewers to generate an alternative ending to a Short via AI prompts.
Using Extend with AI provided viewers with a selection of options that they could choose from to generate a different ending to a Shorts clip. Users could then post these alternative variations as their own clips, which is a lightweight way to generate content.
This new Omni-powered option is like an expanded version of that, which will enable more specific editing of a Short, and could lead to alternate remix options.
Though it may also lead to misrepresentation, which is very likely why YouTube has now expanded its likeness detection tools to all users.The capacity to change the context of Shorts may also lead to misuse, and YouTube is hoping to limit this by ensuring that creators are aware of any remix of their content, while also alerting users to any depictions of their image.
Creators can also opt out of visual remixing, which will also remove any remixes already made from their content.
So there are controls and failsafe measures built in. Even so, it still feels like a lazy means to create content, which is more likely to flood the app with slop than it is to drive new engagement trends.
As with Extend with AI, the bigger question is, why would people want to do this?
Sure, there’s no doubt some level of novelty to incorporating elements onto another user’s content, which could lead to absurdist and surreal takes. There will also be some level of creative value in this. But the real challenge of creativity is coming up with a great, original idea, not adding random takes into someone else’s content.
So while some users will be excited to insert themselves into YouTube clips, in the majority of cases, these are going to be lazy, unoriginal, uninteresting depictions that only serve to push YouTube further away from original, inspired creation.
Which is the definition of AI slop. And with billions of users, the slop level facilitated by easier-to-access AI remixes is probably going to rise in the app.
