YouTube has decided that watching creators isn’t enough anymore. Now, you can talk to them too. Sort of. Not really. But also… yes.
In December, Google confirmed it’s expanding its AI “Portraits” experiment to include a small group of YouTube creators. The idea is simple: instead of just watching videos, viewers can interact with an AI version of a creator and ask questions in their “voice.”
If that sentence made you pause for a second, good. You’re paying attention.
This didn’t come out of nowhere. Back in June, Google launched Portraits, an AI feature that lets users chat with AI versions of well-known thinkers, authors, and business voices. These aren’t random impersonations. The creators themselves provide the content, ideas, and source material the AI is trained on.
So instead of reading every book by someone like Kim Scott, the system pulls relevant ideas and advice based on your question. It’s not the same as talking to the real person, but it’s a way to scale their thinking without requiring them to personally answer the same question 10,000 times.
Helpful? Sure. A little weird? Also yes. Now YouTube wants in.
According to YouTube, the Portraits feature is expanding to a select group of creators who opt in. These creators provide the content their AI portraits are built on, and U.S. viewers over 18 may soon see an option to “Talk to Creator’s Portrait” directly on participating channels.
This means you could ask an AI version of a creator questions about how they built their channel, how they think about content, or why they chose that thumbnail that made you click.
Yes, this could include someone like MrBeast. No, this does not mean you’re actually talking to MrBeast. It means you’re talking to a very well-trained robot that sounds like him.
Let’s be honest. The main audience here isn’t casual viewers. It’s other creators.
People who want to grow on YouTube, figure out content strategy, or understand how successful channels think are probably going to be the ones asking the most questions. An AI trained on years of a creator’s videos could answer common questions in seconds.
Fans will use it too, of course. People will ask personal questions, inside jokes, and things the real creator would never respond to anyway. Google’s generative AI will fill in the gaps with responses styled to sound like the creator, which opens up an entirely separate conversation about authenticity.
But that’s a blog for another day.
YouTube isn’t alone here. Meta has been experimenting with AI chatbots modeled after well-known creators and public figures, positioning them as a way for fans to interact without needing the real person to be present.
Here’s the issue: social media already allows real interaction. Comments, DMs, replies, and live streams. You can actually talk to creators now, even big ones, in ways that didn’t exist ten years ago.
Replacing that with an AI version raises a fair question: Does this enhance connection or dilute it? Talking to a robot that pretends to be human doesn’t feel like progress in terms of relationship building. It feels like a shortcut.
That said, there is a use case here.
If YouTube positions these AI portraits as educational tools rather than stand-ins for human connection, they could be genuinely useful. Explaining a creator’s process, content decisions, or creative framework is very different from pretending to be their personality.
If this becomes a way to learn the how and why behind successful YouTube channels, it could be valuable. If it turns into simulated friendship, it’s going to feel off fast.
This feature sits right on the line between helpful and uncomfortable.
Used correctly, it could scale knowledge and insight without burning creators out. Used poorly, it risks turning creators into chatbots and connection into a novelty.
YouTube hasn’t crossed that line yet. But it’s definitely standing close enough to make everyone a little uneasy. And honestly, that’s probably the most honest reaction of all.
