YouTube is conducting a new experiment on its Shorts short video clips, applying automatic enhancements to video quality using machine learning techniques, including reducing blurriness and improving clarity. The company states this process is not based on generative AI nor upscaling technologies but resembles what smartphones do when recording videos. However, the experiment has sparked widespread objections from content creators who feel the changes are made without their consent, potentially harming their credibility and distorting their style. Musician and content creator Rick Beato, with over 5 million subscribers, noticed his clips look “strange,” as if he is wearing makeup. His friend, Reid Scholl, said the result seemed “exaggerated and AI-generated,” damaging his image and voice online and weakening his trust with his audience. Other creators also reported altered facial and clothing details.

René Ritchie, YouTube’s editor-in-chief and creator relations lead, confirmed the test is limited to Shorts videos only, without specifying how many accounts are affected or if there will be an option to disable the feature. Critics argue the issue is not the nature of the edits but the lack of transparency. Creators believe any modification, no matter how slight, should be approved by them and warn that audiences might think they applied these filters themselves. This controversy arises as YouTube tightens monetization rules against low-quality or AI-reliant content, which many welcomed. Yet, the platform’s own use of AI-like processing on creators’ content raises new questions about policy contradictions.