YouTube will let creators choose if their videos are used for AI training

One of the ways companies get data to train their AIs is from the public. This includes things that you might have personally uploaded, such as photos, videos and more. Obviously the right thing to do would be to get consent, and that’s something that YouTube is doing where they’re asking content creators permission to use their videos for AI training.

In an announcement by YouTube, the company has revealed that in the future should there be a request from third-party companies to use videos for AI training, this is something that creators will need to give their consent to. This means that companies will not be able to harvest your videos to train their AI unless you give the greenlight.

That being said, this seems to be some kind of blanket agreement. It does not appear that creators need to give consent per request. There is a toggle in the Studio Settings that they have to turn on to allow “Third-party training”. According to YouTube:

“We see this as an important first step in supporting creators and helping them realize new value for their YouTube content in the AI era. As we gather feedback, we’ll continue to explore features that facilitate new forms of collaboration between creators and third-party companies, including options for authorized methods to access content.”

So if you are a YouTube creator and don’t want to allow third-party companies to use your videos for training purposes, then leave this toggle off. Another thing worth noting is that this only applies to third-party companies. YouTube themselves, as per their existing agreement with creators, can still use some content for training.