YouTube Will Use AI to Upscale Low-Res Videos

YouTube is worried a lot of changes right now, and according to the companythis will help it stand out better on TVs. YouTube today announced that it will allow creators to upload larger thumbnails, as well as make browsing and shopping while watching on TV a little more convenient. But there will also be big changes in the content itself, and it's not just limited to TVs.

YouTube will soon begin using artificial intelligence to automatically upscale any videos below 1080p. While you can technically still download 720p videos nowadays as smartphone cameras get better and better, to me it essentially feels like “old videos”. This bothers me a little as someone who has been watching a lot of 90s and early 2000s TV shows on YouTube lately.

Done right AI scaling it's a simple way to denoise video and is more resistant to hallucinations than generations made from whole cloth. But there were some hiccups here, and some creators in fact, YouTube has already been accused of using AI upscaling without telling them, and with some undesirable results. For now, the allegations are limited to YouTube Shorts, but remarkably, even Will Smith appears to have violated the system's hidden AI since the celebrity was himself. accused of creating mobs using AI in a YouTube short from a recent concert. However, internet detectives determined that the footage was likely legitimate, but YouTube automatically turned it into “AI slop.” Notice, for example, how Frames look different on Instagram.

Luckily, YouTube says this version of AI upscaling will be entirely in the hands of creators and users. According to the feature announcement, “Creators will retain full control over their library as both the source files and original video resolution will remain intact, with the clear ability to dodge Meanwhile, viewers will be able to see when AI upscaling has been used thanks to a “super resolution” label in the resolution selection settings, and choose the native resolution instead.

Additionally, YouTube reported Edge that upscaling technology will not affect videos shot at a resolution below 1080p but manually updated and uploaded at 1080p or higher. What matters is what resolution the video was uploaded in.

All of this is a relief for people like me who don't need fancy seven-fingered extras on our sitcoms, although it's unclear whether this control will also extend to YouTube Shorts, or whether YouTube may continue to experiment with mandatory AI scaling there behind the scenes (which, to be fair, hasn't been confirmed yet).

Either way, it's understandable why YouTube is making these changes as it tries to get more attention on more devices. Low-resolution video may look good on a six-inch smartphone display, but not so much on a 50+-inch TV.

YouTube hasn't said exactly when this feature will launch, but if you notice anything like strange AI artifacts the next time you watch a video on YouTube, try checking your resolution settings by hovering over the video and tapping or clicking on the gear icon.