YouTube Implements Major Changes to Video Usage for AI Training Purposes

YouTube has recently introduced a significant update regarding the use of videos for artificial intelligence (AI) training, allowing creators to control whether their content can be scraped by companies for this purpose.

As the excitement surrounding generative AI surged in early 2023, many areas of the internet, including video platforms, began contributing to the training of AI models intended for creating diverse digital content.

YouTube, a dominant player in this field, has witnessed instances where third-party companies scraped videos from notable creators like MKBHD and MrBeast without prior consent, leading to considerable backlash from the community.

Empowering Creators: Opting into AI Training

According to a recent article on TechCrunch, YouTube has unveiled a new feature within the creator dashboard that provides users the option to manage how their content is utilized by external companies for AI training.

This feature is disabled by default, but creators can choose to opt in, granting permissions for either all companies to use their content or restricting access to selected firms.

The list of companies from which creators can choose includes prestigious names in the tech industry such as AI21 Labs, Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, ByteDance, Cohere, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Perplexity, Pika Labs, Runway, Stability AI, and xAI.

A notable mention on this list is Runway, whose practices came under scrutiny in July 2024 when it was revealed that they trained their AI on over 1,700 videos from MKBHD without obtaining permission. This incident garnered a strong response from the tech creator, who expressed his frustration through social media.

MKBHD remarked, “Well well well. Runway AI video generator was trained on YouTube videos without permission, including 1600+ MKBHD videos,” accompanied by a melting face emoji.

This new feature is just one of several AI-oriented offerings that YouTube has introduced in recent months. Earlier in December, YouTube launched AI comment recommendations designed to assist creators in responding to viewer comments, although user feedback on this feature has not been overwhelmingly positive.

As YouTube continues to evolve in the AI landscape, this latest update marks a critical step towards empowering content creators in controlling their digital assets while also addressing the industry’s growing ethical concerns.

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