was caught quietly using artificial intelligence to alter creators' Shorts videos without their consent, sparking an outcry over artistic integrity that forced the company to promise an opt-out feature.
- An unwelcome touch-up: The changes were first flagged by popular music creators like Rick Beato and Rhett Shull, who noticed their videos had an "AI-generated feeling" that misrepresented their work. Beato remarked that it looked like he was "wearing makeup," while Shull posted a video detailing the unwelcome changes that quickly drew over half a million views.
- Just 'computational photography': After creator complaints simmered for months, a YouTube liaison finally confirmed the "experiment," framing it as using "traditional machine learning" for clarity, similar to a smartphone's camera processing. But for creators, the technical distinction was irrelevant; the core issue was the lack of consent and transparency over modifications to their work.
The incident highlights the growing tension between platforms' push for automated "improvements" and creators' demands for artistic control in the age of AI.
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Also on our radar: The controversy comes as YouTube is simultaneously cracking down on low-quality "AI slop" from mass-produced channels. At the same time, parent company Google is facing separate objections for using YouTube videos to train its Veo AI model, and some analysts believe these kinds of covert AI experiments won't be the platform's last.