The AI-powered “Jump Ahead” function on YouTube is now formally available to Premium subscribers.
YouTube started developing a feature that would allow users to fast-forward to the most engaging segments of a video based on AI predictions and user viewing statistics back in March. The experiment is no longer in beta. Users with YouTube Premium are starting to get access to it, but just on Android for now.
This could be a helpful method for viewers who are merely want to get to the important parts of bloated videos. Incentives to sign up for YouTube Premium could also be strong, as the streaming behemoth has been aggressively promoting it in various ways—for example, by threatening to introduce stop screen advertising and taking action against ad-blockers for free users. We already have extremely short attention spans, but there’s a nagging suspicion that YouTube is utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to make them even shorter.
How ‘Jump Ahead’ is used
As of 9 to 5Google, you’ll see a “Jump Ahead” option in the lower right corner of the screen when you double tap to go ahead by 10 seconds. Tap to see text over the video that reads, “Skipping over commonly skipped section.” That means that rather than skipping ahead by ten seconds, it will take you to what is considered “the next best point a viewer typically skips ahead to.” Again, YouTube is using AI to guide you to specific places in the video that you probably want to see because this feature is trained by detailed watch data and your personal viewing preferences.
YouTube has been testing an AI-powered “Ask” button in addition to the “Jump ahead” option. This button allows Premium users to ask specific questions about a video or find similar material using a chatbot interface without pausing playing.
