YouTube on Monday announced it will give creators more choice over how third parties can use their content to train their AI models. Starting today, creators and rights holders will be able to flag for YouTube if they’re permitting specific third-party AI companies to train models on the creator’s content.

From a new setting within the creator dashboard, YouTube Studio, creators will be able to opt in to this new feature, if they choose. Here, they’ll see a list of 18 companies they can select as having authorization to train on the creator’s videos.

The companies on the initial list include AI21 Labs, Adobe, Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, ByteDance, Cohere, IBM, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, Perplexity, Pika Labs, Runway, Stability AI, and xAI. YouTube notes these companies were chosen because they’re building generative AI models and are likely sensible choices for a partnership with creators. However, creators will also be able to select a setting that says “All third-party companies,” which means they’re letting any third party train on their data — even if they’re not listed.

Eligible creators are those with access to the YouTube Studio Content Manager with an administrator role, the company also notes. They’ll also be able to view or change their third-party training settings within their YouTube Channel at any time.

Following the rise of AI technology, and particularly, YouTube creators complained that companies like Apple, Nvidia, Anthropic, OpenAI, and even Google itself, among others, have trained AI models on their material without their consent or compensation. YouTube would address this issue in the near future.

But while the setting’s addition controls access by third parties, the company tells TechCrunch that Google will continue to train its own AI models on some YouTube content in accordance with its existing agreement with creators. The new setting also doesn’t otherwise change YouTube’s Terms of Service, which prohibits third parties from accessing creator content in unauthorized ways, like scraping, for example.

Instead, YouTube sees this feature as the first step toward making it easier for creators who want to permit companies to train AI on their videos, and perhaps as a way to be compensated for that training. In the future, YouTube will likely tackle the next step of this process by allowing the companies creators have authorized to access direct downloads of their videos.

With the feature’s introduction, the default setting for all creators will not allow third parties to train on their videos, which makes it more explicit to companies that have already done so that they did this against the creators’ wishes.

YouTube was unable to say if the new setting could have any sort of retroactive impact on any third-party AI model training that has taken place. But the company says its Terms of Service indicates that third parties cannot access creator content without authorization.

The company first unveiled its plans to offer creator controls for AI training in September, when it also announced new AI detection tools that aimed to help prevent creators, artists, musicians, actors, and athletes from having their likenesses, including their faces and voices, copied and used in other videos. The detection technology would expand upon YouTube’s existing Content ID system, which previously focused only on copyright-protected material, the company explained at the time.

Creators globally will be alerted to the new feature via banner notifications in YouTube Studio on desktop and mobile over the next few days.

YouTube has recently announced a significant update to its platform, allowing creators to opt-in to third-party AI training. This move is expected to have a profound impact on the platform, enabling creators to tap into the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance their content and reach a wider audience.

What is Third-Party AI Training?

Third-party AI training refers to the use of machine learning algorithms and models developed by external companies to analyze and improve YouTube content. These algorithms can help creators to identify trends, optimize their videos for better engagement, and even generate new content ideas.

Benefits of Third-Party AI Training for Creators

The benefits of third-party AI training for creators are numerous. Here are some of the most significant advantages:

1. Improved Content Optimization: AI algorithms can analyze a creator’s content and provide recommendations for improvement. This can include suggestions for optimizing video titles, descriptions, and tags to improve visibility in search results.
2. Enhanced Engagement: AI can help creators to identify the most engaging parts of their videos and provide recommendations for how to increase engagement. This can include suggestions for adding interactive elements, such as polls or quizzes, to videos.
3. Increased Productivity: AI can automate many of the tasks involved in creating and publishing content on YouTube. This can include tasks such as video editing, captioning, and tagging.
4. Better Analytics and Insights: AI can provide creators with more detailed and accurate analytics and insights about their audience and their content. This can include information about viewer demographics, engagement patterns, and content preferences.
5. New Content Ideas: AI can help creators to generate new content ideas by analyzing trends and patterns in their existing content. This can include suggestions for new video topics, formats, and styles.

Benefits of Third-Party AI Training for YouTube

The benefits of third-party AI training for YouTube are also significant. Here are some of the most important advantages:

1. Improved Content Quality: By providing creators with access to AI-powered content optimization tools, YouTube can improve the overall quality of content on the platform.
2. Increased Engagement: AI-powered content optimization tools can help to increase engagement on the platform by providing creators with insights and recommendations for how to make their content more engaging.
3. Better User Experience: AI-powered content optimization tools can help to improve the user experience on YouTube by providing users with more relevant and engaging content.
4. Increased Revenue: By providing creators with access to AI-powered content optimization tools, YouTube can increase revenue on the platform by providing creators with more effective ways to monetize their content.
5. Competitive Advantage: By allowing creators to opt-in to third-party AI training, YouTube can gain a competitive advantage over other video sharing platforms.

Challenges and Limitations

While the benefits of third-party AI training for YouTube creators are significant, there are also some challenges and limitations to consider. Here are some of the most important ones:

1. Data Privacy Concerns: The use of third-party AI training raises concerns about data privacy and security. Creators will need to be careful about the data they share with third-party AI providers and ensure that their data is protected.
2. Bias and Fairness: AI algorithms can be biased and unfair, and creators will need to be careful about the AI algorithms they use to ensure that they are fair and unbiased.
3. Dependence on Technology: The use of third-party AI training can create a dependence on technology, and creators will need to be careful about relying too heavily on AI algorithms.
4. Cost and Accessibility: The cost of third-party AI training can be prohibitively expensive for some creators, and YouTube will need to ensure that this feature is accessible to all creators, regardless of their budget or resources.

Conclusion

YouTube’s decision to allow creators to opt-in to third-party AI training is a significant development for the platform. The benefits of this feature are numerous, and it has the potential to revolutionize the way that creators produce and distribute content on YouTube. However, there are also some challenges and limitations to consider, and creators will need to be careful about the data they share with third-party AI providers and ensure that their data is protected.