To attempt it out, I turned Bard on a YouTube video I frequently reference for non secular steering: America’s Check Kitchen’s recipe for an Espresso Martini. Critically, it’s actually good. I usually discover myself in my kitchen with half the components in a cocktail shaker attempting to recollect how a lot Benedictine I’m supposed so as to add, then re-watching the video to search out out. However with Bard on the case, all I’ve to do is kind a number of prompts and viola — I’ve the complete record of components and a few step-by-step directions.
Bard received all the important bits proper in summing up the video: the components and measurements are all correct, and the directions are appropriate. It even consists of step one of chilling a martini glass by filling it with ice and water. The one factor that’s not fairly on the right track is that it says it is best to shake the drink for 30 seconds — the video positively doesn’t show or advise you to shake it that lengthy. However general? Yeah, job effectively accomplished Bard.
Right here’s the issue although. America’s Check Kitchen has already revealed the complete recipe to its web site — it’s simply behind a paywall, like a whole lot of their content material. The YouTube video doesn’t embrace the recipe within the video description. By watching the YouTube video each time I make the espresso martini, presumably there’s some worth going again to ATK for that content material. By having Bard spit out the recipe for me, I’ve simply skipped the step the place I press play, watch a preroll add, and see the channel’s different really helpful movies on the finish. That’s nice for me, however most likely much less good for the writer of the video.
In the intervening time, this function solely exists as an opt-in Labs expertise, and it takes a bit of work to get to the reply you’re on the lookout for. Once I requested for the “full recipe” from the video, Bard wasn’t capable of generate something. However asking for “step-by-step directions” on a subsequent immediate received me the entire recipe.
With that a lot friction, there’s most likely no present hazard to ATK’s YouTube technique. But it surely’s not arduous to think about a future the place this software exists proper within YouTube, and at that time, there’s a special dialog available about how the worth of Bard scraping the content material of a video can profit creators — proper now, the one clear profit is to Google. It’s nothing new for generative AI, however it’s a query anybody within the business — Google included — has but to search out a solution for. We’ve reached out to Google for clarification on this and can replace this text with their response. Regardless, if it desires to maintain YouTube creators fortunately churning out content material for its platform, then Google must determine that one out ultimately.
Replace November twenty second 2:55PM ET: Added a be aware that we’ve got reached out to Google to ask for an announcement on the potential impression to YouTube creators.