YouTube has a new Labs program, allowing listeners to "discover the next generation of YouTube." In case you were wondering, that generation is apparently all about AI. The streaming site says Labs will offer a glimpse of the AI features it's developing for YouTube Music, and it starts with AI "hosts" that will chime in while you're listening to music. Yes, really.
The new AI music hosts are supposed to provide a richer listening experience, according to YouTube. As you're listening to tunes, the AI will generate audio snippets similar to, but shorter than, the fake podcasts you can create in NotebookLM. The "Beyond the Beat" host will break in every so often with relevant stories, trivia, and commentary about your musical tastes. YouTube says this feature will appear when you are listening to mixes and radio stations.
The experimental feature is intended to be a bit like having a radio host drop some playful banter while cueing up the next song. It sounds a bit like Spotify's AI DJ, but the YouTube AI doesn't create playlists like Spotify's robot. This is still generative AI, which comes with the risk of hallucinations and low-quality slop, neither of which belongs in your music. That said, Google's Audio Overviews are often surprisingly good in small doses.
To opt in, visit the new YouTube Labs landing page. After joining, the YouTube Music app will get a new button on the Now Playing screen with the familiar Gemini sparkle logo. Tapping that will allow you to snooze the commentary for an hour or the remainder of the day. There is no option to completely disable the AI host in the app, so you'll have to opt out of the test if you decide Beyond the Beat is more trouble than it's worth.
We've been on the hunt for this AI host since opting into the test several hours ago, but the robot has yet to appear. YouTube says the feature is now live for a "limited number" of US testers to try, but it's possible the frequency of AI interruptions will change as Google gathers more data on how much people like (or don't) having a robot tell them about music.
This is the only experiment available in YouTube Labs for now, but the company says more AI features will be added to Labs soon. This will help Google gather feedback to decide how to roll out the features widely. So if you have strong feelings about the AI host, it may be worthwhile to submit feedback from the Labs page. YouTube is accelerating its use of AI. On the video side, the site is working toward releasing a suite of AI video tools, and it automatically upscales some videos, much to the chagrin of uploaders.
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