Does ChatGPT Process Video Content?
TL;DR:
- ChatGPT cannot watch or analyse videos directly
- It can work with video transcripts or written descriptions you provide
- ChatGPT only handles text-based content and responses
- You'll need specialised tools for actual video analysis tasks
ChatGPT works exclusively with text. It can't see, watch, or analyse video files in any way. This is important to understand when you're planning how to use it for content creation or analysis.
What ChatGPT Can and Cannot Do with Video
ChatGPT processes text only. When you upload a video file or send a video link, it won't be able to extract any information from the visual or audio content directly.
However, you can work around this limitation by providing text-based versions of your video content. ChatGPT can analyse and work with:
Video transcripts – The full written version of everything said in the video
Content descriptions – Your written summary of what happens visually
Chapter breakdowns – Text outlines of different video sections
The more detailed your text input, the better ChatGPT can help you analyse themes, suggest improvements, or create related content.
Getting Video Content into Text Format
If you need to work with video content through ChatGPT, you'll need to convert it to text first.
For transcripts, you can use YouTube's auto-generated captions (though they're often inaccurate), dedicated transcription services, or transcribe manually for better quality.
For visual content, write brief descriptions of key scenes, graphics, or demonstrations shown in the video.
Tools That Actually Analyse Video
When you need direct video analysis, these platforms are built for the job:
Google Cloud Video Intelligence API identifies objects, scenes, and text within video files
Amazon Rekognition detects faces, objects, and activities in video content
IBM Watson Visual Recognition analyses both video and image content for various elements
These tools can extract information that ChatGPT simply cannot access.
FAQs
Can ChatGPT create videos?
No. ChatGPT only generates text. It can write video scripts, descriptions, or social media captions about videos, but it cannot create actual video files.
Will ChatGPT ever be able to process videos?
OpenAI continues developing new capabilities, but currently ChatGPT is text-only. Other AI models from different companies do handle video, but not ChatGPT specifically.
Can I ask ChatGPT to summarise a YouTube video?
Not directly from a link. You'd need to provide the transcript or your own summary of the video content for ChatGPT to work with.
Jargon Buster
Video transcript – Written record of all spoken words in a video, usually timestamped
API (Application Programming Interface) – Software that lets different programs communicate and share data
Natural language processing – AI's ability to understand and work with human language text
Wrap-up
ChatGPT's text-only limitation isn't necessarily a problem. It just means you need to approach video-related tasks differently. If you're creating video content, ChatGPT excels at writing scripts, titles, descriptions, and social media posts. For actual video analysis, you'll need tools designed specifically for that purpose.
Understanding these boundaries helps you use ChatGPT more effectively and avoid frustration when it can't handle tasks outside its capabilities.
Join Pixelhaze Academy to learn more about AI tools and when to use them effectively.