I let YouTube's Auto Speed binge my videos; here's where it shines

I often speed up YouTube videos during tedious segments. I can quickly pull up the playback speed menu and increase the speed to 2.0x to bypass sponsored content or lengthy chapters I'm not interested in. However, I recently discovered a new option called Auto Speed under the playback speed settings. I decided to give it a try and found it to be a mixed bag of benefits and drawbacks.

Auto Speed is essentially an AI-powered feature that automatically speeds up videos based on their content. It identifies parts of the video that are too long or lack engaging material and speeds them up accordingly. When it's turned on, the playback speed gradually increases in increments of 0.01x for videos that don't require much fast-forwarding. Importantly, Auto Speed works in conjunction with the base speed I choose, so if I set the speed to 1.5x while Auto Speed is enabled, the video won't go below 1.5x.

While Auto Speed can be helpful for long-form podcasts, gadget reviews, and explainer videos, it has some limitations. It doesn't work with non-English videos, sports or music videos, livestream replays, or videos with non-linear content like stand-up comedy acts or movie trailers. Additionally, the feature doesn't provide any visual cues indicating the current playback speed, which can be jarring when I forget to turn it off and accidentally start watching another video at a much faster speed.

Despite these drawbacks, I appreciate the time-saving benefits of Auto Speed. It allows me to quickly skip through tedious parts of videos without constantly adjusting the speed manually. However, I'd prefer it to be turned off by default, as the sudden changes in playback speed can be unsettling and cause the video to appear unnatural. With some refinement, Auto Speed has the potential to significantly improve the viewing experience for many types of YouTube content.