YouTube Music is testing AI hosts that tell stories, trivia and commentary

YouTube Music is getting an AI powered feature. The music streaming service is testing AI hosts, just because.
Google has introduced YouTube Labs, a way for users to test experimental features. It’s kind of similar to Google Labs. And the first of these YouTube Labs experiments, AI hosts. According to the announcement, these AI music hosts will tell relevant stories, fan trivia and fun commentary to offer a deeper listening experience. The AI feature is currently available in the YouTube Music app on a limited basis.
To test the feature you must enroll into YouTube Labs, you can do that at https://www.youtube.com/new. TechCrunch reports that it is open to free users as well, which is a nice surprise. However, access to the AI hosts is only available for some people in the United States.
Spotify has an AI DJ too, and it isn’t particularly popular among users. Do we need all this?
I still listen to FM Radio, it’s free, fun, some stations are actually ad-free, and provide a lot of music, talk shows, news, etc. I do appreciate it when the host is entertaining, but I’m not sure if it’s because of the facts and trivia, I think it’s the host’s voice, and their way of presenting the show is what makes it entertaining. Can an AI host deliver the same experience? I doubt it, an AI may have more information than a person can possibly have, but a human has character, charm, humor, and more importantly, real experience as a disc jockey.
I’d rather have the lyrics on the screen, instead of an AI DJ possibly interrupting the music. But, of course, Google is making Lyrics a premium exclusive feature. Well, at least the AI DJ is opt-in.
What do you think?
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