What you need to know
- YouTube is increasing the number of videos with chapters with automatic generation based on analysis from DeepMind.
- Google set a goal of a 10X increase in videos with chapters from 8 million to 80 million.
- Auto-generated captions, as well as translation to 16 languages, are coming to YouTube mobile on Android and iOS.
- Ukrainian will be added next month to increase access to accurate information about the war.
At Google I/O 2022, the company announced many new features, and one of Google's most popular sites, YouTube, has also enjoyed some new upgrades. The streaming service is expanding its efforts to bring auto-generated chapters to more videos across the platform while increasing the number of languages available in auto-translated captions.
Google recognizes that video has become a fundamental way people communicate, share information, and learn. Google has set out to improve access to information with video chapters helping people find exactly the information they're looking for more quickly.
DeepMind, a British artificial intelligence company acquired by Google in 2014, is set to analyze text, audio, and video to generate chapters for videos with improved accuracy and speed. Google hopes to use this tech to increase its videos with chapters by 10 times over the next year, from 8 million to 80 million.
It's also working to generate video transcripts to help people determine if the information they're looking for is in a video. Transcripts are now available on both Android and iOS.
Another way YouTube videos will become more useful is through better translations. With captions and auto-generated captions, YouTube is able to generate captions in 16 languages. This feature has also been added to mobile for even better access. Not only will this help creators improve their reach to build a worldwide audience, but it will enable better access to information for many more people around the world.
These are the languages currently available for automatic translation on YouTube:
- Arabic
- Chinese (Traditional)
- Dutch
- English
- French
- German
- Hindi
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Portuguese
- Russian
- Spanish
- Thai
Next month, Ukrainian will also be added to the list to give Ukrainians access to accurate information about the war.
YouTube has been building itself into a one-stop shop for entertainment with everything from a great music streaming service, movie rentals, and even TV beyond its user-uploaded videos. With a YouTube-compatible VPN service, YouTube has become a primary source of information for people around the world. Adding better support for languages other than English can not only improve access to information worldwide but can help YouTube creators to expand their audience.
