YouTube’s new creation tools impressed me, even as someone who doesn’t make videos

I have a confession to make — I don’t really watch a lot of content creators on YouTube. With my two biggest interests being gaming and film, my YouTube consumption primarily consists of trailers or criticism related to both art forms.

So, I found myself feeling a bit out of place at the latest Made on YouTube event in New York City. As a creator-focused showcase, I wasn’t sure what to expect or even how it’d be relevant to me when I was invited.

But lately, I’ve found a surprising amount of pleasure in being a more passive observer in communities to which I don’t belong, like the Stardew Valley: Festival of Seasons concert or Anime NYC earlier this year.

And so, I found myself pretty impressed with Made on YouTube as a whole. On top of being a much smaller and more intimate event with creators, media and YouTube staff, I found the announcements themselves to be quite fascinating.

With that in mind, here are my key takeaways from the show as someone who is decidedly not a creator but still is deeply involved in the overall tech space.

Some thoughtful uses of AI

More and more, I grow weary as I hear of new applications of AI. Generally, I don’t trust companies to use it properly, whether intentionally (the garish use of “deepfake” actors in the likes of The Flash and Alien Romulus) or unintentionally (AI models stealing or changing images).

But at Made on YouTube, I was pleased to see some more measured uses of AI that — at least so far — didn’t seem to take anything away from creators.

First, there was an expansion of YouTube’s Dream Screen, a feature that uses AI to create backgrounds for YouTube Shorts. Now, Shorts will incorporate Google’s most sophisticated DeepMind generation model, Veo, to enhance Dream Screen’s output. Admittedly, any form of AI-generated artwork makes me feel icky, but it seems to be well-balanced here.

To demonstrate this, YouTuber d4vd — a former Fortnite streamer turned musician — took to the stage to perform his song, “Here With Me.” While he sang, Dream Screen played various images inspired by the romantic ballad, including blooming and burning flowers and a couple on a beach.

While there was admittedly that air of uncanniness to the AI-generated art, the fact that it was placed in the background made it far less distracting. Ultimately, they’re only there to supplement the real art: the song that d4vd wrote and sang. Knowing that the heartfelt ballad was inspired by d4vd’s connection to Carl and Ellie’s ill-fated relationship in Pixar’s Up only makes the story feel more human in the face of the AI usage.

I also got to sample the Veo-powered feature for myself. In a demo kiosk, you could direct the computer to cycle through one of a variety of pre-made prompts, like “vintage car travels along rainbow road into the vast expanse of space” or, for something a little less specific, “golden hour in Taroko national park, lens flare.” I’ll confess that even my cynical self was rather impressed with the level of detail in the images, especially with respect to how the warm rays of the sun poke through the foliage in the latter.

I also appreciate how YouTube — as part of its goal to be “responsible” — is labelling each of these creations to denote that generative AI was used. As this technology only continues to improve and become more photorealistic, that kind of transparency is key.

But of course, AI can be used in many other ways beyond art creation, and those alternatives certainly appeal to me the most. In particular, I was pleased to see how AI is being used in dubbing. Given how global YouTube is as a platform, you never know who might come across a video, especially if they’re from another country and speak a different language.

To that end, YouTube says it’s expanding AI-powered translated audio tracks from a “small group” of creators to “hundreds of thousands more in the coming months.” What’s more, it’s now piloting a feature that uses AI to study your intonation and tone and have that more accurately reflected in the translation.

In the past, readers have asked us to have a French version of MobileSyrup, and we’ve always been open to it, had we the bandwidth or resources. But with my colleague, Brad Bennett, always pursuing creative new multimedia content offerings, it’s easy to see how something like Auto Dubbing could help us in that regard. Of course, it remains to be seen how consistently well it works, but I’m certainly optimistic about its potential.

These weren’t the only applications of AI that were featured, but for me, they were the most standout.

Intriguing community-building tools

Something YouTuber Natalie Lynn said in a pre-recorded video during the Made on YouTube presentation really stuck out to me: that she was inherently quite introverted and used YouTube videos to express herself and connect with people instead. As someone who often struggles with social anxiety, it hit close to home. And sure, there’s a potentially dangerous parasocial element attached to the modern celebrity, but it was also a great reminder that there is an inherent loveliness to being able to find a sense of community with others online.

For that reason, YouTube revealed a new ‘Communities’ feature that will provide fans with a dedicated hub centred around a creator’s channel. I can see myself finding a few applications for it, even as someone who doesn’t often engage in online forums.

For instance, one of my favourite YouTubers is Writing on Games, who I like both for being Scottish (my mother’s side of my family) and for his insightful gaming critique. In theory, the idea of being able to connect with other fans of his work and, potentially, be exposed to even more excellent criticism through that is enticing, to say the least.

Likewise, one of my favourite non-gaming channels is First We Feast for its incredible Hot Ones series. As someone who can’t handle pretty much any spice, I like to live vicariously through the brave souls who tackle the incendiary wings while responding to host Sean Evans’ fantastic questions. In that case, I can see enjoying perusing a community dedicated to Hot Ones in which people can share funny commentary or even memes from the latest video.

Overall, Made on YouTube was an enlightening experience. Whether it was hearing from YouTube staff about the many features they’re developing or chatting with global creators (shoutout to the wonderful Dubai-based Farah ElKordy), I really enjoyed getting to learn more about the platform. And while some of the features won’t be directly relevant to me, I did still come away with a greater appreciation for a platform that I — and, not to mention, multiple generations of my family — use literally every day.

I’m looking forward to seeing these features start to roll out in 2025. In the meantime, check out our full breakdown of the Madeo on YouTube announcements here.