Google is looking to expand its artificial intelligence mode for Google Search to YouTube, with a new test of more detailed AI responses to search queries in the app.
YouTube’s Ask YouTube button, which is currently being tested with YouTube Premium subscribers in the U.S., enables users to enter more conversational queries. It will then provide expanded responses based on contextual understanding.
As explained by YouTube: “For example, you can ask for help planning a 3-day road trip from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, and you’ll get a structured, step-by-step itinerary instead of a list of videos.”
YouTube said that responses to these queries will include a mix of long-form videos, Shorts, and informative text, including local tips and must-see stops.
Users will also be able to follow-up with queries like “good coffee shops nearby,” and Ask YouTube will provide answers based on the context of its previous responses.
These expanded AI searches within YouTube are already available in Google’s AI Mode via its main search tool.
AI Mode is not the same as Google’s Search previews, which now appear in most search results, and aim to help users find exactly what they’re looking for based on direct queries.
AI Mode is a more interactive, guided search option, which is designed to better understand the specifics of a user’s request, and share expanded responses that can cover multiple elements.
This is the next stage of search, which includes contextual discovery that’s based on what the system understands about each user, and which provides more tailored, personalized overviews of the most relevant responses.
Both AI Mode and Ask YouTube are initial moves towards this, which will eventually also integrate more agentic elements that can, for example, make inquiries to travel providers on behalf of users, and even book tickets, in alignment with each user’s preferences.
The future of AI is automation in all elements, though that also comes with a level of risk, and will take some time to develop.
As such, these types of tools are the stepping stones that will get to that next stage.
YouTube’s Ask YouTube search option is currently only early testing, and is available to YouTube Premium members in the U.S. who opt-in to YouTube’s experimental features.
