Ask YouTube brings AI-powered conversational search to video, and adds Gemini Omni to short videos

Google is completely revamping its search experience, and it doesn’t stop at YouTube. Like the rest of Google’s services, the YouTube search bar is equipped with artificial intelligence tools such as “Ask YouTube”, a feature that is supposed to give users a more advanced search experience.

“With Ask YouTube, you can ask more complex search queries, like wanting tips on how to teach your child to ride a bike, or finding creator reviews of relaxing games to play before bedtime,” the company explained. “You can also ask follow-up questions to further refine what you’re looking at.”

YouTube will collect both short videos and long videos and generate responses.

US premium subscribers on desktop can start using this feature now through optional YouTube premium offers to test the new tools.

The company also announced that it is adding Gemini Omni, Google’s new AI video model, to YouTube Shorts Remix and the YouTube Create app.

“Remixing with Omni provides a new way for users to create and build on each other’s imaginations,” YouTube wrote in a press release. “The model better understands user intent to create more consistent and meaningful stories while also handling complex video and audio edits behind the scenes.”

Other companies, such as Meta and OpenAI, have seen mixed reactions when pushed to use AI in Shorts videos. OpenAI even discontinued its social app Sora, where users can post and share AI-generated clips. But YouTube seems to bring this up in a way that seems less front and center.

YouTube is also expanding its similarity detection tool to include creators 18 or older, which should help prevent creators from deepfaking other people’s AI content. If a creator sees that they have been misrepresented in AI-powered videos, they can request the video be removed. As this feature is now expanding more widely, it remains to be seen how effective it will be.