YouTube to Let Creators Make AI ‘Digital Twins’ for Shorts, Focuses on Labels and Quality Control
YouTube plans AI-powered digital twins for creators, enabling synthetic Shorts while promising transparency, quality control, and stronger safeguards.
YouTube is preparing to introduce an artificial intelligence feature that could fundamentally change how creators make short-form videos. The platform plans to allow users to generate Shorts using AI-powered digital versions of themselves — essentially “digital twins” that mirror their appearance and voice.
The announcement came as part of YouTube CEO Neal Mohan’s annual letter, where he outlined the company’s broader vision for AI integration across the platform. While embracing the technology’s creative possibilities, Mohan emphasized a balanced approach, stating that “AI will remain a tool for expression, not a replacement.”
Although YouTube hasn’t shared a timeline or technical specifics, the feature is expected to work similarly to OpenAI’s Sora app. That tool enables users to create photorealistic avatars by recording short selfie videos and audio samples. These digital replicas can then be placed into AI-generated scenes, eliminating the need to film every shot manually.
If implemented in a comparable way, YouTube’s version could allow creators to produce content faster, experiment with storytelling, or appear in videos without physically being on camera. For influencers and brands, this might mean lower production costs and quicker turnaround times for Shorts — a format that already dominates the platform.
However, the company is also aware of growing concerns around synthetic media and the rise of what many critics call “AI slop,” or low-effort, mass-produced content that clutters feeds. Mohan acknowledged the issue directly.
“Over the past 20 years, we’ve learned not to impose any preconceived notions on the creator ecosystem,” he said. At the same time, he stressed YouTube’s responsibility to “maintain the high-quality viewing experience that people want.”
To address transparency, Mohan confirmed that YouTube clearly labels AI-generated material. Creators will also be required to disclose when they upload “realistic altered or synthetic content.”
He added that the platform will “equip creators with new tools to manage the use of their likeness in AI-generated content,” signaling efforts to protect identity and prevent misuse.
The digital twin initiative is part of a broader push to enhance Shorts, which now average a staggering 200 billion daily views. Upcoming updates include the ability to insert image posts directly into the Shorts feed and new parental controls that limit how long kids and teens can scroll — even allowing guardians to set the timer to zero.
Beyond video creation, YouTube is experimenting with more AI-driven features. Mohan revealed a tool that lets users build simple games using text prompts. Existing capabilities already include AI-powered editing tools in the YouTube Create app, automatic dubbing in more than 20 languages, and Dream Screen, which generates AI backgrounds for Shorts.
Meanwhile, over 20 million viewers have used the platform’s Ask tool, an AI assistant that answers questions about videos in real time.
With these updates, YouTube appears determined to weave AI deeply into its ecosystem — while trying to keep authenticity and quality at the forefront.
