All the more reason to subscribe to YouTube Premium

It seems that YouTube really wants users to subscribe to YouTube Premium. Flooding ads on practically every YouTube step for free users, blocking the use of “ad blockers” and probably finding some more or less intrusive way, YouTube is increasingly putting pressure on users to finally decide and press the “subscribe” button. While many past platform upgrades have often been criticized, the latest one is much more positive.

After YouTube raised its subscription prices, Premium users will now be offered a UI experience that free users won't get.

Until recently, the UI functionality was only available in an experimental phase, but now it is gradually coming to users. To start with YouTube Premium users in the US, the new feature is currently only available on the Android app.

The new feature is that users will be able to interact more deeply with videos. As we can see in the video above, using a cooking video as an example, the user asked the question in the new UI tool: “What ingredients do they use?” We could ask the UI tool to summarize the video, suggest similar content, etc.

To launch the new tool, YouTube has added a new “Ask” button below the player. There, we can choose from pre-made prompts, or write our own. So the principle of operation is very much the same as with all other generative artificial intelligence models.

Google Photos users have a similar “Ask Photos” feature. The Gemini-powered tool lets you interact with Google Photos photos. It seems Google is rolling out similar UI tools across its broad portfolio of services and devices to attract more users who will be willing to pay for subscriptions. Is AI a compelling enough reason to convince you to sign up for YouTube Premium?