YouTube can use AI to whip you up a new ‘custom feed’

YouTube’s introduced a new feature that lets you create a custom video feed — or at least have AI create a custom video feed for you. A new custom feed page is rolling out now, where you can enter a prompt to have YouTube create a feed of videos based on your criteria.

A blog post explaining the new custom feed makes it seem like your prompt can be as broad or specific as you want, from asking for a feed that’s “something different beyond my usual feed” to one that features specific types of guided meditation content.

This new feed will be accessible on desktop and mobile, through a chip at the top of the home tab labeled Your custom feed. When you tap the chip, you’ll see a text box labeled “Tell us in your own words.” There, you can describe whatever feed you want, or choose from one of a handful of suggestions.  Once you’ve created your initial custom feed, you can edit your prompt at any time to start a new one.

YouTube announced the new custom feed initiative as a new feature, not a limited experiment. I’m not seeing it the new home page chip to activate the feature yet, but YouTube says it’s rolling out starting today on both desktop and mobile, for users in the US who are signed into YouTube and have search and watch history enabled.