You could start chatting directly with Gemini Live about a YouTube video you're watching very soon

(Image credit: Shutterstock / JRdes)

YouTube is prepping new AI features to make passive video watching a lot more interactive, according to unreleased code found by Android Authority. The Talk Live features undergoing testing use Google Gemini's AI models to let you converse about YouTube videos and PDFs.

Imagine you’re watching a video on, say, the history of art movements, and halfway through, you’re scratching your head over what separates Impressionism from Post-Impressionism. Instead of pausing the video to dive into a Google rabbit hole, you could summon Gemini Live to clarify things for you right then and there. With a simple tap on a contextual “chip” that pops up, the AI assistant will be ready to answer questions, provide context, or summarize key points from the video.

The Talk Live PDF feature takes the same premise as the YouTube feature and applies it to PDF documents. You can get Gemini Live to discuss the document with you. That might mean summarizing it, explaining complicated terms, or answering specific questions about sections that don't make sense when you read it. Whether you’re using the YouTube app or a PDF reader, you'll be able to summon Gemini and get all your queries on videos and documents answered.

AI enhancement

Google has been pushing AI for YouTube for months now. The Talk Live tool fits right in with the likes of YouTube's Brainstorm with Gemini feature for coming up with ideas. The same goes for the the AI tool for removing copyrighted music from your video without taking it down completely, or the one for making new, uncopyrighted music to fit the theme of your video. There's also the useful auto-dubbing feature, which translates and dubs videos into multiple languages.

Still, the idea of remaking YouTube viewing as an engaging conversation on top of the more passive viewing experience is one that might appeal to a lot of people, especially if the video is really long and the viewer is impatient. And everyone from students trying to grasp a lecture, to creators looking to expand their audiences could benefit. It might make people more willing to engage with difficult content. Or, at the very least, the AI will make understanding Impressionism much easier.

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Eric Hal Schwartz is a freelance writer for TechRadar with more than 15 years of experience covering the intersection of the world and technology. For the last five years, he served as head writer for Voicebot.ai and was on the leading edge of reporting on generative AI and large language models. He's since become an expert on the products of generative AI models, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini, and every other synthetic media tool. His experience runs the gamut of media, including print, digital, broadcast, and live events. Now, he's continuing to tell the stories people want and need to hear about the rapidly evolving AI space and its impact on their lives. Eric is based in New York City.