Google’s Bard YouTube extension just got a lot smarter

To try it out, I turned Bard on a YouTube video I regularly reference for spiritual guidance:
America’s Test Kitchen’s recipe for an Espresso Martini. It’s really good. When using Bard, all I have to do is type a few prompts and voila — I have the full list of ingredients and some step-by-step instructions.

Bard accurately summarized the video, including ingredients, measurements, and instructions. It even includes the step of chilling a martini glass by filling it with ice and water. Although it suggests shaking the drink for 30 seconds, which the video doesn’t demonstrate, overall, Bard did a good job.

However, the issue arises as America’s Test Kitchen has already published the full recipe to its website behind a paywall. By using Bard to retrieve the recipe, I bypass the process of watching the video, potentially impacting ATK’s content value.

Currently, this feature only exists as an opt-in Labs experience, and it requires some effort to obtain the desired information. Hopefully, Google will address this concern, especially regarding the impact of Bard scraping video content on creators.

As of now, there is little concern for ATK’s YouTube strategy due to the existing friction. However, if this tool becomes integrated into YouTube, it will raise questions about the value of Bard scraping video content for creators. We’ve reached out to Google for clarification on this and will update this article with their response. Regardless, to maintain a content-friendly platform, Google will need to address this issue eventually.

Update November 22nd 2:55PM ET: Added a note that we have reached out to Google to ask for a statement on the potential impact to YouTube creators.