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Yelp is expanding its use of artificial intelligence by launching AI-generated short videos that showcase restaurants and nightlife spots across the nation. The videos, assembled from existing user-submitted photos and videos, are now accessible on the iOS app’s home feed, offering a TikTok-like viewing experience.
The company utilizes a suite of generative AI tools, including OpenAI LLMs for creating text descriptions and narrator scripts, ElevenLabs for voice generation, and Amazon Transcribe for on-screen captions. Chief Product Officer Craig Saldanha stated Yelp’s goal is to generate ‘as many videos as possible,’ focusing on businesses with ample user-generated content to ensure a compelling narrative.
While businesses cannot currently view these generated videos, and users cannot opt-out of having their content included, Yelp assures users and businesses have the ability to report inaccurate or offensive videos. Yelp also performs regular audits for content quality. These videos are not personalized to individual users but displayed based on personalized signals that Yelp uses. This feature complements existing AI-driven features on Yelp, such as review summaries and filtered results.