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The coronavirus outbreak is moving humans to social distancing. Google says YouTube video reviews are turning to automation due to the coronavirus outbreak.
YouTube video reviews turn automated due to coronavirus
YouTube announced on Monday that in light of social distancing, and the need to protect its employees, the company will rely on automation for its video reviews for the time being.
“Our Community Guidelines enforcement today is based on a combination of people and technology: Machine learning helps detect potentially harmful content and then sends it to human reviewers for assessment.
As a result of the new measures we’re taking, we will temporarily start relying more on technology to help with some of the work normally done by reviewers…this means automated systems will start removing some content without human review,” Google wrote in its YouTube Creator Blog post.
What the new non-human, fully automated video review means for YouTube content
Google says that the new video review automation will lead to an increase in the amount of removed content. Automated video reviews aren’t the same as human ones. Humans aren’t “programmed” and can think outside of training boxes.
Automated reviews, on the other hand, operate by computer programming. In other words, they only perform what they’re “told” to. Automation could remove certain videos containing certain words that could be fine. Automation, as fine-tuned as it may be, isn’t a 100% substitute for human minds just yet.
There may be those who see their content removed and want to appeal. The appeals process will be longer because of the lack of human eyes to review them quickly. With video reviewers out of the office, appeals will have a slower process than before.
Whereas before, human review them because they’re in the office, appeals will now mandate some delay before processing. With coronavirus spreading, there’s no telling how long the process could take in the immediate future.
Automated YouTube video reviews caused by social distancing
The use of complete automation and the longer time frame with removal appeals is a direct result of the coronavirus outbreak. The spread of the virus throughout the world is leading countries and communities to release employees from work.
Employees are heading home to work remotely (online) until further notice from their place of employment. With human workers at home these days (and out of the office), video reviews and appeals will occur by machine only rather than machine and man.
“We recognize this may be a disruption for users and creators, but know this is the right thing to do for the people who work to keep YouTube safe and for the broader community,” Google says. When deciding between the safety and protection of human life or manual video submissions, human life always matters far more.
Google has had two coronavirus cases surface in recent weeks. The first occurred in the company’s Zurich office, the other in the company’s Bangalore office a few days ago. Google is now encouraging its North American employees, among others, to work remotely until April 10th.
The coronavirus outbreak started in Wuhan, China, in an animal market but is spreading worldwide. Coronavirus is infecting those who have no contact with Wuhan, China, a Kirkland nursing home facility, Italy, South Korea, or other disease epicenters.
The spread of COVID-19 in Washington state for weeks without detection is leading to the closing down of universities, colleges, and businesses. Some public schools and businesses are closing for two weeks until further notice.