YouTube is quietly using AI to change some videos without creator consent

YouTube has secretly been using AI to edit people's videos over the last few months, with these changes being so small that users wouldn't notice unless the videos were placed side-by-side.

The claims come from a new BBC report that cites several YouTubers who have noticed differences in their videos. One content creator, Rhett Schull, pointed to one video that looked different on YouTube Shorts compared to Instagram, with the creator saying the YouTube Shorts version looked "smoothened" with an "oil painting effect" over his face.

Shull added that he "did not consent to this," adding, "The most important thing I have as a YouTube creator is that you trust what I'm making, what I'm saying, and what I'm doing is truly me. Replacing or enhancing my work with some AI upscaling system not only erodes that trust with the audience, but it also erodes my trust in YouTube."

Shull isn't the only creator who has noticed some of their content being changed on YouTube, as a Reddit post from June 27 has pointed out the same thing. Now, YouTube has confirmed that it is changing some YouTube Shorts videos, with the platform describing the alteration as "running an experiment".

"We're running an experiment on select YouTube Shorts that uses traditional machine learning technology to unblur, denoise and improve clarity in videos during processing (similar to what a modern smartphone does when you record a video). YouTube is always working on ways to provide the best video quality and experience possible, and will continue to take creator and viewer feedback into consideration as we iterate and improve on these features," wrote Rene Ritchie, YouTube's head of editorial and creator liaison in an X post