A YouTube Creator AI That Isn't Hype

Posted on 10 Apr 2024
by Hans de Ruiter
In General
Tags: AI

I've long considered AI to be overhyped, and kind of annoying. All that AI generated content, from over the top articles, through to images that don't look quite right (e.g., a sheep with 10 legs instead of 4). However, I've stumbled on an AI tool that has me genuinely impressed. Here's why...

AI Video Thumbnail analysis

Here's the thumbnail for my previous video:

The AI thumbnail analyzer noted all the key features:

A cartoon pig
The pig is wearing a pilgrim hat
Game related content
Clear and brief text
Vibrant colours

It's managed to pick out and describe all the key features.

This impresses me for two reasons:

When I was working on my Ph.D. in computer vision, fellow researchers were still focusing on individual tasks, such as face detection, facial recognition using algorithms such as eigenfaces, and finding hands in a scene. Whole image analysis wasn't feasible. We've come a very long way since then, and the engineer in me is very impressed (I've got some idea of how much R&D this takes)
It's actually useful. In addition to correctly analyzing the thumbnail, it also gives recommendations on how to design better thumbnails

Improving Video Production

This is part of a tool called VidIQ (affiliate link) that I'm using to upgrade my video making skills. It's helping with everything from keyword research and topic selection through to video titles and thumbnails (as already demonstrated).

It's like having a personal coach and assistant for video production. VidIQ even has a mini-course on how to create more engaging videos that people want to watch.

The goal is to produce better content that in turn helps me to serve you better.

BTW, if you have a YouTube channel, and want to make better videos and get more people watching your content, then I highly recommend trying out VidIQ (click here). Even the free tier is useful.

DISCLAIMER: You Still Have to Use Your Brain

That's not to say that the AI is perfect. As always, you have to run all AI recommendations and generated content through your very real Human Intelligence (HI) in order to create something truly great. Consider the AI content to be a starting point. Use it to seed your own creativity.

What Other AI Could Be Genuinely Useful?

This has piqued my interest. I'd like to take a closer look at AI, when I have time. Analytical AI, that is NOT generative AI. I'm more interested in the analysis side...

Know of any good AI papers or open-source projects for me to look at? Leave them in the comments section below, along with any other thoughts that you may have.

NOTE: This blog post contains affiliate links, meaning that I'll get a commission if you buy anything using those links.

About the author

Hans de Ruiter

Hans de Ruiter is Kea Sigma Delta Limited's founder. As a child/teenager he taught himself programming, constructed electronic circuits from kitsets, and also had a keen interest both science and in building things himself. Persuing these interests further, he gained a degree in electrical & electronic engineering (University of Canterbury), and eventually a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto. Hans also has a bit of an entrepreneurial streak, and so this company (Kea Sigma Delta Limited) was founded. It is a vehicle through which all of these interests can be persued. Aside from science and technology, most things interest him. That child-like curiosity of the world has never left him. In particular, he also enjoys hiking and the outdoors. Playing violin and piano are also spare time hobbies of his.

2 Comments

Hans de Ruiter 12/04/2024 1:36am (18 days ago)

Hi Steffen,
AI tech. is definitely improving fast. My annoyance is more with the lazy mass-produced content. Beyond things not looking quite right, a lot of AI imagery has a similar look to it, even with wildly different scenes. It gets boring, and makes truly creative content harder to find.

Then there's the flood of generic AI generated content which are basically rehashes of existing articles. We already had trouble with content being mass-produced by "content marketing" mills, that are being written by people who understand SEO, but don't understand the topic they're writing about. The end result? Search results flooded with the same generic "X ways to Y" type articles repeating the same generic "tips." Very annoying when you're looking for something more specific.

It's part of a marketing arms-race to try to catch people's attention without putting in the time to deliver quality work...
Steffen Haeuser 11/04/2024 5:19am (19 days ago)

Note that as to „images that don’t look quite right“ this mainly happens with outdated models. If you use MidJourney (that one compared to the more popular free image generators which have the problems you mean - well doesn’t have those problems since quite a while) you don’t get that „doesn’t look right“ look. But midjourney costs a monthly fee which is why it is less widely used (i have an abonnement running on it myselves).