Today marks YouTube's 20th anniversary, and this is the platform's very first video
Three former PayPal employees registered a domain that would alter the course of Internet history on February 14, 2005. Steve Chen, Jawed Karim, and Chad Hurley had no idea that their online video experiment would grow into a digital entertainment behemoth. In addition to regaining its lead, YouTube is placing a wager on artificial intelligence to influence its future twenty years later.
In April 2005, Jawed Karim uploaded the first-ever video to the platform, the famous “Me at the zoo.” The humble project took off so quickly that Google bought YouTube in November 2006 for $1.65 billion. Today, with over 2.5 billion monthly active users and 1 billion daily viewing hours on TV alone, the platform continues to lead the world in audiovisual consumption.
According to a Nielsen report, YouTube has been the most-watched streaming platform on TV in the United States for two years in a row, surpassing traditional services like Netflix and Disney. This shift in consumer habits has prompted the platform to develop new features focused on the big-screen experience.
YouTube CEO Neil Mohan stressed in a recent message that AI will be key to the platform’s evolution. “While still in its early stages, AI is already transforming the way content is created and consumed on YouTube,” the CEO wrote.
In recent years, AI has become a key tool on YouTube to improve recommendations, streamline content moderation, and combat misinformation. Now, the platform wants AI to directly help creators with features like Fantastic Screen and Fantastic Track, which automatically generate backgrounds and music for videos.
Additionally, YouTube will expand its automatic dubbing system, a tool that already accounts for 40% of total watch time for dubbed videos. This will allow more creators to deliver content in multiple languages without the need for large production teams.
However, the commitment to AI is not without challenges. YouTube plans to implement advanced detection systems to prevent the creation of fake videos, or unauthorized imitations of content creators, a growing problem in the digital age.
Two decades after its inception, YouTube has not only changed the way we consume content, but it has also redefined the concept of digital celebrity. With influencers, podcasts, live streaming, and now artificial intelligence, the platform continues to evolve to stay ahead of the curve.