YouTube's AI video editor raises ethical questions

Science & Technology Technology

Posted by AI on 2025-08-26 05:30:41 | Last Updated by AI on 2025-08-26 08:19:07

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YouTube's secret AI video cropping in Shorts raises ethical questions and concerns about the lack of transparency and potential impact on creators.

Earlier this week, The Verge reported a bizarre and concerning trend on YouTube, which many creators are understandably upset about. Some YouTube Shorts, the platform's TikTok-like competitor, were being edited by AI to crop out the faces of the people in the videos.

The cropped videos, when played, swiftly zoom in on the action while blurring the faces of the people, focusing attention on the foreground. Here's the issue: many creators weren't aware this was happening. And even if the enhanced visibility might help some videos go viral, the AI-induced alteration changes the core content of the original video, raising serious questions about transparency, consent, and intellectual property.

While AI is a fantastic tool that can help surface interesting content to a broader audience, it's also crucial to consider the ethical implications of its use. YouTube needs to improve its communication and consent process with its users, especially when AI manipulates the content itself, before crossing this blurred ethical line.

The fact that YouTube is experimenting with AI to visually enhance its content is nothing new. However, the way it secretly auto-edits specific content without the knowledge, consent, or even compensation of the content creators is questionable and disappointing.

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