Screenshot from scrolling through YouTube
How many videos do you skip on YouTube a day? For me, quite a lot. They say audience retention span is as low as 2 seconds and I agree.
When I do a little search for "How To" videos, I always skip through the video just to get exactly what I want.
Now Google has develop a new Gemini's AI tool which offers quick video summaries on YouTube.
This feature is going to help viewers skip filler content. It lets us find what matters without wasting much time. Many people like myself, watch videos at faster speeds which is basically why short video content is winning anyways. Gemini can now help even more with that.
But although for video consumers this is awesome, it's going to hurt content creators a lot and I'll explain why that is. YouTube relies on showing ads to viewers for income which is split between the company and the content creators. If viewers start skipping videos, creators may lose a lot of money because there will be less people watching their videos and seeing all the ads they generate revenue for them. It's very unfortunate because many creators put in hard work to create their videos. They deserve fair pay for their efforts.
I think that there’s a balance to strike here. Viewers want useful content, but the creators also need financial support to keep creating content. Google should remember that creators drive YouTube’s success. AI should enhance the experience, not take away from it.
The sad thing is that, I really don't think Google cares. they're busy rolling out new AI tools that'll make more money for them so it'll come at the expense of creators.
Yes, Google Gemini could help us find better videos but we must ensure it does not harm those who create the content otherwise they'll be discouraged from creating the content we love and is useful to us. YouTube must keep supporting its creators while making it easier for viewers to enjoy videos.
