What if someone could watch an hour-long video and summarise it for you? Wouldn’t that be magical? Well, it’s not magic anymore. Let’s explore a life hack which can summarise any YouTube video in just one click.

Many of us have found ourselves in situations where we need to watch multiple videos for work and summarise their content. Watching long interviews or podcasts can be monotonous and time-consuming. In contrast, we’re used to reels, short, snappy clips rarely exceeding a minute in length. One could watch reels all day without losing interest. But when it comes to 2-3 hour-long interviews or podcasts, we feel the need to mentally prepare before diving in. 

While films and entertainment videos are designed to capture your attention, not all interviews are as engaging.

Here’s a lifesaving solution powered by AI, specifically Copilot, Microsoft’s AI assistant. Windows 11 comes with this feature built-in. If you have Microsoft Edge installed on your computer (which is there by default if you’re using Windows operating system), you already have access to this tool for free. The summarisation feature is seamlessly integrated into the Edge browser.

To use it, simply open the Edge browser and navigate to www.youtube.com. Search for the video you want to watch, just as you would on the mobile app. Once the video is open, hover your mouse over it and you’ll notice three icons in the top right corner.

The first icon is ‘Picture in Picture’, which allows you to continue watching the video in a small window while working on other tasks. The second is ‘Enhance’, which uses AI to boost video quality.

The third and the show-stopper is ‘Summarise Video’. This feature generates a concise summary of the video. For a football match highlight, it creates a timeline showing key moments with timecodes. For podcasts or interviews, it summarises key points discussed by the guests, allowing you to grasp the main ideas without watching the entire content.

Edge uses the transcript provided by YouTube to power this functionality. Most YouTube videos have auto generated transcripts, especially when captions are enabled. Copilot then segments the transcript based on topic shifts or timestamps. Using Natural Language Processing (NLP) specifically GPT-4, it identifies main topics, key phrases, filler words like “um”, and natural pauses. It even interprets the overarching theme of the video. The final summary appears in a sidebar on the right side of the screen, neatly packaged and ready to skim. 

This feature is the result of advanced AI. Modern processors are now being equipped with dedicated AI chips, allowing such tasks to be executed swiftly and efficiently. What you’re seeing here is just a glimpse of what AI is capable of and the future looks promising.