YouTube tests its AI-driven comment summariser for Shorts

YouTube is testing an AI-driven comment topic summariser feature for Shorts. Initially, this experimental feature will be available on the video streaming platform's iOS and Android apps, appearing on a limited number of Shorts with extensive comment sections from select creators. The feature categorizes comments into popular topics based on user-generated content. YouTube's AI topics was announced last year and later rolled out globally for long-format videos.

The platform shared details about this new feature on its support page.  It stated that it is now adding the comment topics feature to enhance user participation in conversations. The AI-powered topic summariser aggregates all published comments, identifying similar keywords, categorizing the most discussed keywords into different sections, and generating a title for each topic.

In long-format videos, these topics can be seen on the mobile app once the user enters the comment section. At the top of the section, a new 'Topics' tab appears, displaying different labelled topics when clicked. Each topic shows all the relevant comments, making it easier for users to find and join interesting conversations.

YouTube mentioned that the AI topics will be visible on Shorts by select creators who are part of the experiment groups. The company will choose Shorts with large comment sections and display topics. Front-end visibility will also be limited to a few users viewing the videos on the mobile app.

If creators want to remove any topic, they will have to delete the individual comments that appear under that specific topic. Additionally, YouTube explained that the AI only uses published comments to align them. Comments held for review, containing blocked words, or from blocked users will not be considered.