内容来源：https://www.wired.com/story/youtube-thinks-ai-is-its-next-big-bang/

内容总结：

谷歌公司早年便意识到视频内容将为搜索业务带来巨大增长潜力，于2005年推出Google Video平台。但由于过度依赖与娱乐行业的二流内容合作，并对用户上传内容设限过严，该项目最终失败。与此同时，一家位于加州圣马特奥比萨店楼上的初创公司凭借开放上传权限、不拘泥于版权审查的模式迅速崛起。2006年，谷歌以16.5亿美元收购了这家成立仅一年的企业——YouTube。尽管收购价较估值溢价超10亿美元，如今看来这仍是商业史上最成功的交易之一。

目前YouTube已成为全球最具影响力的视频平台，在音乐和播客领域处于行业领先地位，其超过半数观看时长来自客厅大屏。自2021年以来，平台已向内容创作者支付超1000亿美元分成。据《综艺》杂志援引MoffettNathanson分析师估算，若独立运营，YouTube估值可能达5500亿美元。

当前该平台正迎来重大转型——全面拥抱人工智能技术。作为谷歌旗下子公司，YouTube在本周周年发布会上推出多项AI功能，创作者可利用Deepmind的Veo 3技术增强或生成视频内容。这意味着视频拍摄可能逐渐被文本指令取代，平台的核心竞争力"真实性"面临重新定义。

YouTube首席执行官尼尔·莫汉在接受专访时强调，平台始终秉持"赋予每个人发声权利并展现世界"的使命。对于分拆独立的呼声，这位谷歌忠诚派高管表示，正是母公司的支持使YouTube能长期投入流媒体等创新领域。他指出平台内容广度远超TikTok等竞争对手，涵盖15秒短视频至15小时直播的全维度内容。

面对AI可能带来的内容同质化担忧，产品总监迪娜·贝拉达表示优质内容终将脱颖而出，所有AI生成内容都会进行标注（但暂不提供过滤选项）。莫汉则将AI技术类比数字音乐合成器："关键在于创作是否具有原创性，而非AI使用比例"。当被问及未来三至五年规划时，他预言AI工具将深刻改变视频创作形态，而YouTube要做的就是持续站在技术最前沿。

（本文改写自史蒂文·利维《Backchannel》时事通讯专栏）

中文翻译：

谷歌很早就意识到视频业务将成为其搜索引擎的绝佳补充，遂于2005年推出Google Video。由于过度聚焦与娱乐行业合作获取二流内容，并对用户上传内容限制过严，该产品最终折戟沉沙。与此同时，一家仅有数名员工、隐匿于加州圣马特奥某披萨店阁楼的小型初创公司正迅速崛起——他们允许用户随意上传搞笑视频，并不过分纠结内容版权归属。2006年，谷歌收购了这家成立仅一年的企业，打算日后再解决知识产权问题（后来确实解决了）。虽然以16.5亿美元收购YouTube的价格比其估值高出约10亿美元，但这仍是商业史上最成功的交易之一。如今YouTube堪称全球最成功的视频平台，不仅是音乐与播客领域的行业领导者，其超过半数观看时长来自客厅大屏。自2021年以来，该平台已向创作者支付逾千亿美元分成。据《综艺》援引莫菲特内桑森分析师的估算，若独立分拆，YouTube估值可能达5500亿美元。

现在这个平台正迎来史上最大飞跃，拥抱可能改变其本质的新范式——没错，正是人工智能。由于YouTube仍是由痴迷AI的谷歌全资控股的子公司，本周其周年产品发布中大力宣传AI功能并不令人意外：创作者将能运用AI增强或生产视频。毕竟谷歌DeepMind的Veo 3技术本就是为YouTube量身打造。无论是否做好准备，摄像机终将被提示词取代。这意味着必须重新审视YouTube的核心竞争力：真实性。

YouTube的大爆炸
我带着这种变革思维，近日在YouTube位于加州圣布鲁诺的总部办公室专访了CEO尼尔·莫汉。莫汉于2023年接替因癌症离任的苏珊·沃西基执掌帅印。我们首先聊起公司历史。莫汉提醒我，他与YouTube的缘分早在2008年其广告公司DoubleClick被谷歌收购前就已开始。令他震撼的是，YouTube创始人率先洞察到的本质至今仍是平台核心："不仅是人们渴望无门槛分享生活片段，更重要的是世界渴望观看这些内容——这才是真正的爆发拐点。我们的使命是让所有人发声，并向他们展现世界。"

谷歌的批评者常主张，YouTube若从母公司分拆，不仅有利于公众，平台自身也将受益。试想全球最大视频平台若真正独立将迸发何等能量？但自诩谷歌忠诚派的莫汉反驳道："若非谷歌旗下，YouTube绝无今日成就。"他认为巨头庇护使平台能长期押注流媒体与播客等领域。当我追问独立是否会激发更大创新时，他指出YouTube已在体育直播等领域足够创新地挑战传统媒体，同时抵御了聚焦创作者经济的竞争对手的攻势。

YouTube拥有TikTok和Reels难以企及的广度优势——"从15秒短视频到15分钟传统长视频，再到15小时直播，一切内容形态应有尽有。"莫汉自豪地说。

如今平台正强化另一优势：谷歌的AI技术。本周发布的新功能包括将用户及其朋友形象植入特效视频实现惊人杂技效果，或让播客通过AI生成与对话内容契合的视觉画面，瞬间将音频节目转化为电视节目。莫汉表示AI本质上是服务升级的延续："20年前YouTube诞生时，就是通过技术让更多人发声。AI时代的核心原则一脉相承——如何用技术实现创作民主化？"

民主化固然伟大，但何时会沦为自动化？某项实验性功能将谷歌Veo 3即时视频生成技术引入平台，仅需说出"展示百名印尼舞者在月球起舞"就能生成炫酷视频。但很难说清创意究竟由谁主导。当我观看AI产品总监迪娜·贝拉达演示这些功能时，立即意识到YouTube可能被AI垃圾内容淹没。贝拉达援引平台处理短视频内容的经验保证不会发生这种情况，称优质内容终将脱颖而出（请自行判断可信度）。"观众始终追捧真实与人性化内容，"她表示AI生成视频会有标注，但观众无法过滤此类内容。

原创合成器
莫汉持相似观点。他将AI比作数字音乐技术："你可以编程合成器产生特定音乐类型与节奏，但真正的天才在于是否以极具原创性或创造性的方式实现。"他呼吁质疑者不要对AI视频做先验判断："不能因内容75%由AI生成就判定其优劣，重要的是人类主导创作过程。"

未来我们必将长期争论YouTube等平台的AI创作是否真由人类完成。我未敢请莫汉预测二十年后局面，只请他展望三到五年发展。他的答案是：更多AI。"我坚信这些创作工具将深刻改变视频的类型与本质。YouTube的职责就是站在技术最前沿。"但愿人类仍能掌握最终剪辑权。

本文节选自史蒂文·利维的《反向通道》新闻通讯，过往内容可在此处查阅。

英文来源：

Google figured out early on that video would be a great addition to its search business, so in 2005 it launched Google Video. Focused on making deals with the entertainment industry for second-rate content, and overly cautious on what users could upload, it flopped. Meanwhile, a tiny startup run by a handful of employees working above a San Mateo, California, pizzeria was exploding, simply by letting anyone upload their goofy videos and not worrying too much about who held copyrights to the clips. In 2006, Google snapped up that year-old company, figuring it would sort out the IP stuff later. (It did.) Though the $1.65 billion purchase price for YouTube was about a billion dollars more than its valuation, it was one of the greatest bargains ever. YouTube is now arguably the most successful video property in the world. It’s an industry leader in music and podcasting, and more than half of its viewing time is now on living room screens. It has paid out over $100 billion to creators since 2021. One estimate from MoffettNathanson analysts cited by Variety is that if it were a separate company, it might be worth $550 billion.
Now the service is taking what might be its biggest leap yet, embracing a new paradigm that could change its essence. I’m talking, of course, about AI. Since YouTube is still a wholly owned subsidiary of AI-obsessed Google, it’s not surprising that its anniversary product announcements this week touted AI features that will let creators use AI to enhance or produce videos. After all, Google Deepmind’s Veo 3 technology was YouTube’s for the taking. Ready or not, the video camera ultimately will be replaced by the prompt. This means a rethinking of YouTube’s superpower: authenticity.
YouTube’s Big Bang
I had that shift in mind when I recently interviewed YouTube CEO Neal Mohan at his office at YouTube’s San Bruno, California, headquarters. Mohan took over as CEO in 2023 when his boss, Susan Wojcicki, left her post due to a fatal cancer. But first we chat a bit about the company’s history. Mohan reminds me that his own connection with the service began even before he joined Google in 2008, after his ad company DoubleClick merged with the search giant. He was struck by how the YouTube founders were first with a revelation that, he says, remains the core of the service. “It was not just that people were interested in sharing short clips about themselves and that it was done without a gatekeeper,” he says, “but that people were interested in watching them. That was the big bang inflection point. Our mission is to give everyone a voice and show them the world.”
Critics of Google’s power often argue that not only the public but also YouTube itself might benefit from a split from the mother company. Just think what the world’s biggest video company could do if it were truly independent. Mohan, a self-admitted Google loyalist, disagrees. “I don’t believe YouTube would be where it is if it weren’t part of Google,” he says. He says that being part of a giant company allowed YouTube to make long-term bets on things like streaming and podcasting. When I ask whether YouTube might be even more innovative on its own, he reminds me that YouTube has been sufficiently innovative to challenge legacy media in things like live sports while fending off challenges from competitors focusing on the creator economy.
YouTube has an advantage in breadth that Tiktok and Reels can’t dream of … “everything from a 15-second short to a 15-minute traditional long-form YouTube video to a 15-hour livestream and everything in between,” Mohan crows.
It’s currently pressing another advantage: Google’s AI technology. The announcements this week range from fun features like putting you or your friends’ bodies into videos showing astonishing acrobatic feats or allowing podcasters to make instant television shows from their audio conversations by having AI create visuals that resonate with the content of the chatter. Mohan says that, in a sense, AI is just the latest enhancement of the service. “When YouTube was born 20 years ago it was about using technology for more people to have their voice heard,” he says. “With AI, it’s the same core principle—how do we use technology to democratize creation?”
Democratizing is great. But when does it become automizing? One new experimental feature brings Google’s Veo 3 instant video creation to the YouTube platform. Simply by saying, “Show me 100 Indonesian dancers on the moon,” you have a wild video. But it’s not really clear who’s doing the creative heavy lifting. When I first saw these features demo’d by Dina Berrada, YouTube’s product director of AI generation, it immediately struck me that YouTube might be overwhelmed by AI slop. Berrada assured me it wouldn’t, citing YouTube’s experience with short-form creator content, where cream always rises to the top. (Decide for yourself if this is true.) “The content everyone is watching is authentic content and human content,” she says. AI-prompted videos will be labeled, she says, though there’s no option for viewers to filter out anything that’s created by AI.
Original Synths
Mohan has a similar view. He compares the use of AI to digital music technology. “You can program a synthesizer to produce this type of music, these types of beats.” he says. “The genius is going to lie whether you did it in a way that was profoundly original or creative.” He urges skeptics not to make a priori judgments about AI video. “Just because the content is 75 percent AI generated doesn't make it any better or worse than a video that’s 5 percent AI generated,” he says. “What's important is that it was done by a human being.”
I think we will be arguing for a long time whether or not some of the upcoming AI creations on YouTube or elsewhere are indeed made by human beings. I didn’t dare to ask Mohan to predict where we’ll be on this issue 20 years from now, instead asking him just to speculate what’s ahead in a three- to five-year time frame. His answer: more AI. “I do believe that those creation tools that you saw are going to have an impact on the type of videos and the nature of videos that are created. Our job at YouTube is to be at the cutting edge.” Let’s hope humans still make the final cut.
This is an edition of Steven Levy’s Backchannel newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.