11/13/2026

YouTube Video Ideas: 80 Ideas with What You Need and a First Outline

Key takeaways

80 YouTube video ideas in 10 types, each with what you need to make it, how much effort it takes and how to turn it into a series.
Every type ends with a first-video outline (opening, middle, ending and a shorter or longer version), and three of the outlines are made into finished videos you can reuse as templates.
A YouTube channel idea is a topic plus a format you can repeat: if you can write ten titles in the format, it can carry a channel.
To choose, start from questions viewers already ask: YouTube's search suggestions, the Trends tab in YouTube Studio, popular videos in your niche and comments.
A good YouTube video keeps its title's promise within the first 30 seconds, and the audience retention report shows where viewers leave.

Lists of 100 or more YouTube video ideas are easy to find. The hard part is choosing one you can make this week with what you already have, and that still makes sense as episode ten.

This article sorts 80 YouTube video ideas into 10 types. Every idea comes with what you need to make it (a camera, your face, a screen recording or only a script), how much effort it takes and how to turn it into a series. Each type ends with an outline for a first video, and three of those outlines have been made into finished videos with NoLang that you can open as templates. After the list come YouTube channel ideas built to last, how to choose an idea people are looking for, how to make a good YouTube video from it and how to keep going after the first one.

YouTube video ideas at a glance

Start with the type that fits what you have. The table gives the usual requirements for each type; the ideas inside a type vary, and the tables further down list them one by one.

10 types of YouTube video ideas

Type	Good if you	Usually needs	Effort for most ideas
First videos	are starting a channel	You or your voice, a short script	Low
Tutorials and how-to	can show how to do something	The thing itself, a camera or screen recording	Low or medium
Explainers	know a subject well	A script and visuals	Low or medium
Lists and fun facts	like research and short formats	A script and visuals	Low
Reviews and comparisons	already use products in your niche	The products, a camera	Low or medium
Vlogs and behind the scenes	have a job or place people are curious about	A phone camera	Low or medium
Challenges and experiments	can film over days or weeks	Short daily clips	Medium or high
Storytelling and commentary	enjoy research and narration	Research, a script, visuals	Medium or high
Funny videos	have a premise you can repeat	You, friends, a phone	Low or medium
Gaming	play games with an active community	Game capture, a mic	Low or medium

Effort in this article means roughly this:

Low: you can plan, record and edit it in one sitting with what you have.
Medium: it needs some research, a planning session, a second shoot or a second person, or a day of editing.
High: it needs in-depth research, filming spread over several days, or travel.

“Make it a series” in each table is the part that changes from episode to episode while the format stays the same.

YouTube video ideas by type

First videos for a new channel

Your first videos tell the people who find your channel what they will get if they subscribe, so keep them short, specific and about the viewer.

First video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
Channel trailer: what you post and who it’s for	A short script, on camera or voiceover over clips	Low	Re-cut it when the channel’s focus changes
Introduce yourself through the one skill the channel is about	On camera, examples of your work	Low	A “one year later” version
Why I started this channel	On camera or voiceover	Low	Revisit it at each milestone
Answer the question you get asked most	A script, on camera or screen	Low	One question per video
My setup for [your niche]	A camera, your tools	Low	Update it when the setup changes
My first attempt at [skill]	A camera, the attempt itself	Medium	A monthly progress check
My goals for the next 12 months	On camera	Low	Quarterly check-ins
Remake the first thing you ever made	Your old work, a camera	Low	“Then vs now” episodes

First video outline: “What this channel is (and who it’s for)”
Opening: one sentence that names the viewer and the result, such as “If you bake bread at home, this channel is the shortcuts I wish I’d had.”
Middle: two or three examples of what you will post, shown on screen; how often you post; one reason to trust you (what you have made or done).
Ending: point to the one video a new viewer should watch next.
Short version: the opening sentence and one example, in under 30 seconds.

Tutorials and how-to videos

A tutorial answers a question someone has already typed into a search bar, so it keeps being found for as long as people have that question. The narrower the problem, the easier the video is to make and the easier it is to find.

Tutorial and how-to video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
Fix one common problem (“Why is my sourdough flat?”)	The thing you fix, a camera or screen recording	Low	One problem per episode
Complete beginner’s guide to a tool or hobby	A screen recording or camera, voiceover	Medium	Beginner, then intermediate, then advanced
Step-by-step project (a recipe, a build, a layout)	A camera on a tripod or overhead, good light	Medium	A new project each week
5 shortcuts in an app people use every day	A screen recording, a mic	Low	One app per episode
Common mistakes and how to avoid them	Examples, yours or made for the video	Low	One mistake per Short
Follow-along session (a workout, a sketch, a coding exercise)	A camera or screen, recorded in real time	Medium	Same day and time each week
Set up [product] in 10 minutes	The product, a screen recording or camera	Medium	One device or version per episode
“How do I…?” questions from your comments	Whatever the answer needs	Low	Comment of the week

First video outline: “How to fix [problem] in [number] steps”
Opening: show the problem and the fixed result side by side, then say how many steps it takes.
Middle: what you need; each step with the one detail that usually goes wrong; a quick check that it worked.
Ending: the next problem people run into after this one, as your next video.
Short version: the single step that makes the biggest difference.

Explainer and educational videos

An explainer takes one question, such as “How does this work?” or “Why does this happen?”, and answers it in order. The script carries the video, and diagrams, illustrations and short captions carry the rest, so it suits people who know a subject well and would rather not be on camera.

Explainer and educational video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
How an everyday thing works	A script, diagrams or illustrations	Medium	One object per episode
One concept in 60 seconds	A script, simple visuals	Low	A concept a week, as Shorts
Myth vs fact in your niche	A script, sources to cite	Low	Myth of the week
How [thing] was invented	Research, a script, visuals	High	A timeline series
What’s the difference between X and Y?	A script, side-by-side visuals	Low	Pairs your viewers mix up
A book or study explained in 10 minutes	The book or paper, notes, a script	Medium	Book of the month
10 terms every beginner gets wrong	A script	Low	One topic per episode
This week’s news in your niche, explained	Sources, a script, a quick turnaround	Medium	A weekly episode

First video outline: “How [everyday thing] works”
Opening: an everyday moment and a number, then the puzzle the video will solve. The example opens on an 85-decibel jet cabin and asks how adding sound can make things quieter, then promises the answer within three minutes.
Middle: the one idea everything else depends on (here, what a sound wave is); the mechanism in steps (cushions, an outside microphone, a chip, anti-noise); the catch and how it is handled; the answer to a question raised at the start (why a crying baby still gets through); two short bonus facts.
Ending: a four-line recap, one sentence that sums up the answer, and an invitation to subscribe for more how-it-works episodes.
Short version: the moment the two waves cancel out, in under 30 seconds.

The example below follows this outline. It is a horizontal (16:9) explainer of about 3 minutes 30 seconds, made with NoLang, in which diagrams and labels carry the explanation: sound as pressure waves, a microphone and chip creating the opposite wave, the two waves cancelling, and a recap card at the end.

How noise-cancelling headphones work explainer

Make a how-it-works explainer for beginners on how a refrigerator keeps food cold. Open with an everyday question, explain it step by step with simple diagrams and end with a quick recap.

Create with This Template

Lists, rankings and fun facts

A list promises a number and then delivers it, which makes it easy to title and gives viewers a reason to stay until the last item. Lists suit Shorts especially well, because each item can be a few seconds long.

List, ranking and fun fact video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
5 surprising facts about [animal, place or object]	A script, visuals	Low	One subject per episode
Top 10 countdown in your niche	Research, footage you own or visuals	Medium	A monthly or yearly ranking
Tier list (S to F)	A tier chart, your opinions	Low	One category per episode
Underrated vs overrated	Opinions, examples	Low	One category per episode
Things I wish I knew before starting [hobby or job]	Your experience, on camera or voiceover	Low	One stage per episode
Best [product] under $[price]	Products you have actually used	Medium	One price band per episode
Ranking your viewers’ suggestions	Comments, your opinions	Low	A recurring community episode
Then vs now: how [thing] changed	Research, old and new examples	Medium	One subject per episode

First video outline: “5 facts that prove [bold claim about a subject]”
Opening: the claim the five facts will prove, in one line. The example opens with “Octopuses might be the closest thing to aliens on Earth. Here’s the proof.”
Middle: count down from five to one with the number on screen; each fact is one claim, one reason and one short on-screen label, such as “3 HEARTS” or “BLUE BLOOD”; keep a short story for number one (here, a mother octopus guarding her eggs for 53 months).
Ending: one line that names the series, such as “Follow for more of the ocean’s strangest stories.”
Long version: give each fact its own minute, with a source and a closer look, for an 8 to 10 minute video.

The example below follows this outline. It is a vertical (9:16) Short of about 60 seconds, made with NoLang, with a five-to-one counter at the top, a bold label for each fact and captions at the bottom.

5 surprising facts vertical Short

Make a 60-second vertical Short with 5 surprising facts about honeybees. Count down from five to one and save the most surprising fact for last.

Create with This Template

Reviews, comparisons and unboxings

A review helps someone decide before they spend money, so it is judged on specifics: what you tested, for how long and who it is not for. A verdict in the first seconds respects the viewer’s time and makes the rest of the video the evidence.

Review, comparison and unboxing video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
Honest review after 30 days of use	The product, a camera	Medium	One product per episode
X vs Y head-to-head	Both products	High	Matchups your viewers ask for
Budget vs premium	A cheap and an expensive version	High	One category per episode
Unboxing and first impressions	The product, a camera	Low	New releases
Is the viral product worth it?	The product, a simple test	Medium	Viral product of the month
One year later	A product you reviewed before	Low	Follow-ups on old reviews
Spoiler-free review of a book, film or game	A script, on camera or voiceover	Low	Weekly
Does it really work? (testing one claim)	The product, a test you can repeat	Medium	One claim per episode

First video outline: “I used [product] for 30 days: honest review”
Opening: the verdict in one sentence and who the product is for.
Middle: what you used it for; three things that held up; one or two that didn’t; how it compares with what you used before.
Ending: who should skip it and what you would choose instead.
Short version: the one thing that surprised you.

Vlogs and behind-the-scenes videos

A vlog is held together by a person and a theme. “Day in the life” on its own is hard to search for; “day in the life of a night-shift nurse” tells a viewer exactly what they will see.

Vlog and behind-the-scenes video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
Day in the life of a [job or role]	A phone camera, permission where you film	Medium	Different days and seasons
My morning, study or work routine	A camera	Low	Seasonal updates
Desk, studio or room tour	A camera	Low	After each upgrade
Behind the scenes of making one thing	A camera running while you work	Medium	Every project
What I spend in a week as a [role]	Your numbers, on camera or screen	Low	Monthly
Travel vlog with one rule (street food only, $50 a day)	A camera, the trip	High	One city per episode
A week of trying something new	Daily clips	Medium	Something new each month
Build-in-public update	A camera or screen recording	Low	Weekly or monthly

First video outline: “A day in the life of a [role]”
Opening: the most unusual moment of the day first, then “here’s how I got there.”
Middle: four to six time-stamped moments; one problem that came up and how you handled it.
Ending: what the day taught you, and a question for the comments.
Short version: the whole day in one-second clips, about 20 seconds long.

Challenges and experiments

A challenge carries one question (will it work?) that only the end of the video answers. That keeps people watching, but it also means you need footage from day one, so plan what you will film before you start.

Challenge and experiment video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
I tried [habit] for 30 days	Short daily clips, a log	High	A new 30-day test each month
Testing viral hacks	The items, a camera	Medium	Three hacks per episode
$20 challenge (or any fixed budget)	A camera, the budget	Medium	Change the budget or the place
Learn a skill in a week	Daily practice clips	High	One skill per episode
Beginner vs expert	A second person	Medium	One skill per episode
Following a famous routine or recipe exactly	A camera	Medium	One person’s routine per episode
Viewers choose my challenge	A poll or comments, a camera	Medium	Viewers pick the next one
Recreating something expensive on a budget	Materials, a camera	High	One item per episode

First video outline: “I tried [habit] for 30 days. Here’s what happened.”
Opening: day 1 and day 30 side by side, without saying the result.
Middle: the rules you set; clips from each week; the low point; one result you can measure.
Ending: whether you will keep going, and the next 30-day test.
Short version: day 1 vs day 30 in 15 seconds.

Storytelling and commentary

Story videos run on narration: a question at the start, the events in order and an ending that answers the question or deepens it. Research takes most of the time. The visuals can be maps, documents, illustrations or footage you are allowed to use, so there may be little or nothing to film. If you show other people’s clips in commentary, add your own analysis around them rather than replaying them.

Storytelling and commentary video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
The story behind a famous brand or product	Research, a script, visuals	High	One brand per episode
Unsolved mysteries and strange history	Research, a script, visuals	High	One case per episode
Story time: something that happened to you	On camera or voiceover	Low	One story per episode
Video essay on a trend in your niche	Research, a script, footage you can use	High	A monthly essay
Commentary on the week’s news in your niche	Sources, a script	Medium	Weekly
Profile of a person who shaped your field	Research, a script	Medium	One person per episode
What went wrong: a famous failure explained	Research, a script	High	One case per episode
The rise and fall of [company, trend or product]	Research, a script	High	One subject per episode

First video outline: “The mystery of [case]”
Opening: the moment of discovery, told in the present tense, ending on the question. The example starts on December 4, 1872, as a passing crew finds a ship drifting with no one aboard, then shows its title.
Middle: the people and the setup, with one detail the viewer is asked to remember (here, 1,701 barrels of alcohol); what was found and what was missing; the popular legend separated from the record; each theory weighed against the evidence; the most likely explanation, returning to the detail planted earlier.
Ending: what happened afterwards, then a question for the comments and the name of the series.
Short version: the opening scene alone, as a 45-second teaser that ends on the question.

The example below follows this outline. It is a horizontal (16:9) story video of about 5 minutes, made with NoLang, in which narration runs over still scenes, a map, title cards and short clips. The scenes and footage are AI-generated illustrations, not historical records.

The Mary Celeste mystery story

Tell the story of the lost colony of Roanoke as a mystery video. Open on the moment the settlement was found empty, then go through the evidence and the main theories one by one.

Create with This Template

Funny video ideas

A lot of comedy on YouTube is recognition: a situation your audience has lived through, pushed one step further. You don’t need a crew. You need a premise you can repeat with a new variation each time.

Funny video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
“Types of people” at a place your audience knows	You, maybe friends, simple props	Medium	Recurring characters
Expectation vs reality	Two takes of the same moment	Low	One situation per episode
POV sketch	A phone, one actor	Low	Recurring points of view
Parody of an ad or video format your audience knows	A script, a camera	Medium	One format per episode
Bloopers and outtakes	Footage you already have	Low	At the end of each month or season
Reacting to your own old videos	Your old videos	Low	One old video per episode
Explaining something serious in the silliest way possible	A script, props	Medium	One topic per episode
Rating ridiculous products	The products	Medium	One category per episode

First video outline: “Types of [people] at [place]”
Opening: the most recognizable type first, with no setup.
Middle: four to six types, 10 to 20 seconds each, each with one line your audience will quote back to you.
Ending: ask viewers which type they are, and name the next place.
Short version: one type per Short.

Gaming video ideas

Gaming videos depend on a game’s community, so pick games that people are playing now and add something they can’t get by playing on their own: a tip, a challenge or the story behind the game.

Gaming video ideas

Idea	What you need	Effort	Make it a series
Let’s play with commentary	Game capture, a mic	Medium	One series per game
Beginner tips for [game]	Game capture	Low	One game or update per episode
Challenge run (no damage, one weapon only)	Game capture, editing	High	A new rule each run
Lore explained	Research, a script, gameplay	Medium	One character or event per episode
Ranking every [item, map or character] in a game	Gameplay, your opinions	Medium	One item type per episode
Patch or update breakdown	Gameplay, a quick turnaround	Low	Every update
Build or creative showcase	Gameplay	Medium	One build per episode
Highlights from playing with viewers	A stream or session recording	Low	Weekly

First video outline: “[Game] beginner tips I wish I’d known”
Opening: the mistake almost every new player makes, shown in gameplay.
Middle: five tips in the order a new player will need them, each shown on screen.
Ending: what to learn next, as your next video.
Short version: one tip per Short.

YouTube channel ideas you can keep making

A channel idea is a topic plus a format you can repeat. A topic on its own (“cooking”) is too broad to plan from, and a format on its own (“top 10s”) gives viewers no reason to subscribe. Put the two together and you can already write your first three titles.

10 YouTube channel ideas with a repeatable format

Channel idea	Repeating format	First three videos
Weeknight cooking for one	15-minute recipe tutorials	3 dinners from one chicken; A week of lunches for $25; 5 pantry meals with no shopping
Money basics for a first job	Myth vs fact explainers	“Never rent, always buy”; “Credit cards are always bad”; “You need $10,000 to start investing”
Home workouts for beginners	Follow-along sessions	10-minute full body, no equipment; 15-minute low-impact cardio; Stretching for desk workers
Tech explained simply	How-it-works explainers	How noise-cancelling headphones work; How Wi-Fi works; Why phone batteries wear out
Budget travel	Travel vlogs with one rule	Tokyo on $50 a day; Lisbon on street food only; A weekend in Chicago without a car
Houseplants for beginners	30-day experiments	Bottom watering for 30 days; Grow light vs window; Repotting vs not repotting
Board games	Rules explained in 5 minutes	Catan in 5 minutes; Ticket to Ride in 5 minutes; Wingspan in 5 minutes
History mysteries	Narrated stories	The Mary Celeste; The lost colony of Roanoke; The Dyatlov Pass incident
Learning a language as an adult	Progress diary with tips	Day 1 of learning Japanese; What 30 days of practice changed; 5 apps I tried and kept
A small business, from the inside	Behind the scenes	How we pack an order; A day at the bakery at 4 a.m.; What our first year really cost

Before you commit, try to write ten titles in the format. If they come easily, you have a channel. If you stall at four, you have a good one-off video, which is still worth making.

How to choose an idea that will get watched

Good ideas start from a question a viewer already has, not from a topic you want to cover. These are the quickest ways to find those questions.

YouTube’s search bar. Type a word from your niche and read the longer phrases it suggests. YouTube’s own creator blog uses “sustainable fashion” as an example, which suggests “sustainable fashion on a budget”, “sustainable fashion brands” and “sustainable fashion haul”: three different videos.
The Trends tab in YouTube Studio. Open Analytics and select Trends to see what your audience and viewers across YouTube are searching for. It shows your audience’s top searches over the last 28 days, videos from similar creators that are doing well, and content gaps: searches where viewers can’t find enough good videos. Some of these insights are only available in certain countries, languages and devices. The Inspiration tab that used to suggest ideas is being phased out from August 2026, and YouTube now points creators to Ask Studio for brainstorming.
Other channels in your niche. Look at the most-watched videos on a few channels in your niche and find the question each one answers. Then answer it your way, with your examples and your opinion.
Comments. Questions under your videos, and under other creators’ videos, are titles that viewers have written for you.

Then check that you can make it. Pick something marked Low or Medium for your first three videos, so you finish them and learn from them, and save the High-effort ideas for when you know which format your viewers stay for.

How to make a good YouTube video from your idea

A good YouTube video keeps the promise its title and thumbnail make, and keeps it early. Everything below follows from that.

Write the title and plan the thumbnail before you film. Together they are the promise. If you can’t say in one line what the viewer gets, the idea needs narrowing.
Deliver on the promise in the first 30 seconds. In YouTube Analytics, the “Intro” figure is the share of viewers still watching after the first 30 seconds, and YouTube notes that a high figure can mean those 30 seconds matched what the thumbnail and title led viewers to expect. Open on the result, the question or the best moment, not a long greeting.
Give the middle a structure the viewer can see. Numbered steps, a countdown or chapters let people know where they are. To show chapters, list timestamps in the description starting at 00:00, with at least three in ascending order, each at least 10 seconds long (your channel also needs access to YouTube’s advanced features).
Get the sound and light right. Record in a quiet room with fans and air conditioning switched off, and keep the mic close to you. If you are on camera, face a window or a soft light rather than sitting with a bright window behind you. Add captions so the video works with the sound off.
Cut anything that doesn’t move the video forward. Pauses, repeated points and “before we start” detours are where viewers leave.
Check where people left, then fix the next video. The audience retention report shows where viewers kept watching and where they dropped. For videos of at least 60 seconds with at least 100 views, it can also mark key moments. If your top moments, where almost no one left, come late in the video, bring that kind of content earlier next time.

For Shorts, the same promise applies in less time. A Short can be up to 3 minutes long. For most channels, square or vertical videos up to 3 minutes uploaded on or after October 15, 2024 are treated as Shorts. A long video often has one moment that works on its own as a Short.

From one video to a series

One video tells you very little. Three in the same format tell you whether viewers stay, come back and ask for more. When a video brings in new viewers, YouTube’s creator blog suggests treating it as the start of a series: two or three more videos that are an obvious next watch.

Keep the format and change the substance. Under YouTube’s monetization policies, “inauthentic content” can’t earn money; that includes videos that look like they were made from a template or feel repetitive when watched one after another. A series is fine when each video has its own story, focus or idea, and YouTube says that if you use automated tools or templates, the finished video must still show your creative vision and give viewers educational or entertainment value. In practice that means a new subject, new research and your own take in every episode, with the same opening, structure and look holding them together.

If an episode uses AI-generated images or footage that look real, as the examples in this article do, disclose it with the AI use setting in YouTube Studio when you upload. YouTube requires disclosure for AI-generated or altered content that seems realistic; using AI to help with an outline, script, title or thumbnail doesn’t need it.

When you have three or more, put them in a playlist and mark it as an official series in the playlist settings (this needs a verified account, and a video can belong to only one series playlist), so YouTube can recommend the next episode to someone watching one of them.

The three examples in this article were made with NoLang, a service that turns a written request into a video with narration, captions and visuals. To make your own episode from one of them, select “Create with This Template”. The NoLang home screen opens with the example set as the Reference Video in the input box. Type your own subject and request into the input box and select Generate a video. After generating, you can check the narration in the Reading Script on the edit screen, use Change aspect ratio to turn a horizontal episode into a vertical one, and, once your YouTube account is linked, post it to your channel with a title, description, thumbnail and a scheduled publication time.

More examples in other formats and languages are in the Video Gallery.

Running a YouTube channel for your company

Companies use YouTube for product tutorials, answers to the questions customers ask most and short explainers, and those formats depend on a steady stream of new episodes. With NoLang, the person in charge can create those videos from a script or an existing PDF or PowerPoint file and post them to the company channel from the same place. To talk about using NoLang across your team, contact us.

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FAQ

What should my first YouTube video be?

A short video that tells a new visitor what the channel is and who it is for, followed soon by a video in the format you plan to repeat. The first explains the channel; the second shows it. If you only have time for one, make the format video, because it answers a question someone might search for, while a trailer mostly helps people who have already found you.

How many video ideas do I need before I start a channel?

Enough for about ten videos in one format. If you can write ten titles that follow the same pattern, such as "How to fix [problem]" or "5 surprising facts about [subject]", the format can carry a channel. Make the first three before you judge it, then use what viewers watched and skipped to adjust the fourth.

How often should I post on YouTube?

As often as you can keep up for months, not weeks. Match the schedule to the effort of your format: a Low-effort format can go out weekly, while a High-effort one may need two to four weeks per episode. Recording several episodes in one session and scheduling them to publish on the same day each week makes a steady schedule easier to keep.

Should I start with Shorts or long videos?

Choose by the idea. A single tip, a fact list or a before-and-after works as a Short; a tutorial, an explainer or a story usually needs the room of a longer video. You can also do both from one idea: publish the long video, then post its strongest moment as a vertical Short.

Can I make YouTube videos without showing my face?

Yes. Screen-recorded tutorials, explainers, fact lists, narrated stories and gaming videos can all be made with a voiceover or with no person on screen, and the tables in this article note which ideas need you on camera. The three example videos in this article were made with NoLang without filming anyone.

Do I have to disclose AI-generated content on YouTube?

Only when it seems realistic, or when AI-generated music is the focus of the video. YouTube asks creators to disclose AI-generated or altered content that makes a real person appear to say or do something they didn't, alters footage of a real event or place, shows a realistic scene that didn't happen, or creates music that is the focus of the video. Using AI to help with an outline, script, title, thumbnail or ideas, or making clearly unrealistic content, doesn't need disclosure. You make the disclosure with the AI use setting in YouTube Studio, on a computer or in the mobile app, when you upload.