YouTube Develops AI Tools to Protect Creators

YouTube is developing new tools designed to give creators more control over content that mimics their voice or image using generative AI.

In a blog post, the platform explained that its new "similarity management" technology aims to protect creators while allowing them to harness the creative potential of AI through the promotion of responsible AI development.

The first tool, described as "synthetic singing identification technology," will enable artists and creators to automatically detect YouTube content that mimics their singing voices using generative AI.

YouTube stated that this tool is integrated into its current Content ID copyright system and plans to pilot it through a trial program next year.

This announcement follows YouTube's November commitment to give companies a way to remove AI-generated copies of musicians. The rapid improvement and accessibility of AI-generated music tools have raised concerns among artists about unauthorized imitation, plagiarism, and copyright violations.

Earlier this year, over 200 artists signed an open letter describing unauthorized AI imitation as an "attack on human creativity."

Additionally, YouTube is developing a separate tool to identify fake faces of creators, actors, musicians, and athletes on the platform. This tool is still under active development, and YouTube has not yet announced a release date.

YouTube also pledged to take strong action against anyone who extracts content from the platform to build AI tools.

The platform stated, "We have made it clear that accessing creators' content in unauthorized ways violates our terms of service." Despite this, companies like OpenAI, Apple, Anthropic, and NVIDIA have reportedly trained their AI systems using thousands of YouTube videos.

YouTube's efforts to counter this activity include blocking content extraction software from accessing the platform and investing in detection systems to identify such activities.

As AI continues to evolve, YouTube emphasized, "We believe AI should enhance human creativity, not replace it. We continue to develop safeguards to address concerns and achieve our goals."

YouTube is also exploring ways to give creators more options regarding how AI companies can use their content on the platform, with more details to be shared later this year.