YouTube Shorts is rolling out new AI tools including image-to-video features and generative effects that transform selfies and sketches. Here’s how they work and where they’re available.
YouTube Shorts Just Leveled Up with AI—Here’s What’s New
YouTube Shorts is going full sci-fi with a set of brand-new AI-powered creation tools, giving short-form content creators some seriously cool options to work with—no editing degree required.
Among the biggest updates? You can now turn static images into dynamic videos, remix your doodles into digital art, and drop yourself into underwater adventures or twin with a virtual sibling. Yup, it’s giving weird and wonderful in all the right ways.
Image-to-Video: Your Camera Roll Just Got Cinematic
YouTube’s new image-to-video tool lets you upload a photo from your phone and watch it morph into a short video clip. In one demo, a boring traffic signal became a dancing pedestrian icon in a slow zoom shot. Yeah, it’s giving Pixar vibes.
How It Works:
- Upload an image from your device
- Choose from suggested video interpretations
- AI animates the scene with motion, effects, and zoom
📽️ Powered by Veo 2, the same model behind earlier versions of Google’s Gemini video tech. But hang tight—Veo 3 is coming later this summer, promising even more lifelike generation.
Generative Effects: Doodles and Selfies Get Weird
YouTube Shorts is also throwing in some trippy generative effects that let you:
- Transform hand-drawn doodles into slick, stylized images
- Reimagine your selfie in creative scenarios like underwater scenes, fantasy lands, or a bizarre “twin” effect with an AI sibling
You’ll find all this under the Effects ✨ icon in the Shorts camera AI menu. It’s giving Snapchat-meets-Midjourney energy, with some chaotic fun mixed in.
Where and When?
These tools are rolling out next week (late July 2025) in:
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
Global rollout is coming soon, but no hard dates yet.
Oh, and everything generated by these tools will be clearly marked with a SynthID watermark and labels, so your followers know when it’s AI vs. IRL.
Why This Actually Matters
This update isn’t just a flex—it could reshape how creators use Shorts. By lowering the barrier to cool visual content, YouTube is:
- Empowering non-editors to make standout clips
- Giving creators more creative freedom with fewer tools
- Competing with TikTok’s growing suite of generative filters and effects
In short: your viral potential just got an AI boost.
Shorts Just Got Smarter—and Weirder
Whether you’re cooking up aesthetic B-roll from a static selfie or turning your doodle of a cat into a disco icon, YouTube Shorts is clearly going all in on AI tools. It’s easy to use, free (for now), and honestly? Kinda fun.
So yeah, grab your weirdest photos and start animating—just maybe warn your friends before you post a clip of yourself twinning with an AI-generated sibling.
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