Google announced that its Bard AI chatbot can now answer questions about YouTube videos. Although Bard already had the ability to analyze YouTube videos with the release of the YouTube extension in September, the chatbot can now give you specific answers about queries related to a video’s content.
“We’re taking the first steps in Bard’s ability to understand YouTube videos,” the company wrote to Bard’s updates page. “For example, if you’re looking for videos on how to make olive oil cake, you can now also ask how many eggs the recipe calls for in the first video. We hear you want more engagement on your YouTube videos. So we’re extending the YouTube extension to understand some video content so you can have a richer conversation with Bard about it.”
Before this latest update, the YouTube extension for Bard could only be used to find specific videos. For example, you can ask the chatbot to find you funny videos. Now, you can ask the chatbot specific questions about the content of the videos. Say you’re watching a travel video and see a place you really like, you can ask Bard where the place is.
The announcement comes two weeks after YouTube began experimenting with new AI-powered features, including an AI chat tool that answers questions about YouTube content, along with a new feature that summarizes topics in a video’s comments.
Chat tool responses are generated by large language models that leverage information from YouTube and the web. Users can ask questions about the video they are currently watching and the conversation with the AI happens while the video is playing. The comment summary tool leverages artificial intelligence to organize discussion topics into comment sections to give users an overview of what people have been saying.
The update also comes as Google has opened access to Bard to teenagers in most countries around the world. The search giant said in a blog post that teens can use the tool to “find inspiration, discover new hobbies and solve everyday problems.” Teens can ask Bard about important topics like which universities to apply to or more fun topics like how to learn a new sport.
