How I Use AI Titles and Descriptions for YouTube

I’ll be the first to tell you I’m not a marketing guy. Never have been. I can tell a story all day long, but sitting down to write compelling YouTube titles and descriptions? That’s where I fall apart. So I leaned on AI, and it’s made a real difference in how I run this channel. In this one I’m breaking down exactly how I use it, while riding my Ninja 400 around town because why not.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

The most important thing to understand about AI before you do anything else is that it is only as useful as what you feed it. That old saying, garbage in, garbage out, applies here more than anywhere.

If you open up ChatGPT and treat it like Google, you’re going to get Google-level generic answers. Here’s a real example. Say you type in “I’m in the market for a new motorcycle, what should I buy?” You’ve given it nothing to work with. So it’s going to go scrape the internet for bestsellers and top-reviewed bikes and spit something back at you. In my case it might say “Get a Kawasaki KLR.” And I’d look at that thinking, what in the world? I have zero interest in a KLR.

That happened because I didn’t give it context. If I’d said I’m looking for a sport bike, it immediately narrows the field. The more specific you get, the more useful the output becomes. That principle carries through everything I’m about to describe.

Why I Use AI for YouTube Titles and Descriptions

My titles and descriptions are about 99% AI generated at this point. And I’m completely fine saying that out loud.

The reason is simple. There’s a real difference between writing to tell a story and writing to get someone to click. I like the first kind. The second kind, the sales copy, the hooks, the compelling calls to action, that’s not something I’m wired for. And if I’m bad at it, why would I force it? That’s where AI earns its keep.

The goal was never to hand AI the wheel completely. It’s more like having a collaborator who’s good at the stuff I’m not.

Building a Master Prompt

Before you can use AI well for your channel, you have to put in the work upfront. The way I approach it is by creating what I call a master prompt.

Here’s the basic idea. You open up ChatGPT or Claude or Grok, whichever you prefer, and instead of asking it to write titles right away, you tell it you need it to interview you first. You literally prompt it to conduct an interview to understand your core values, your voice, and what your channel is actually about. And you push it to keep asking questions until it’s confident it understands you, not just the surface stuff.

You can even break it into separate interviews. One focused on your values. One on your tone. One on what your audience looks like. By the time you’re done, AI has a pretty solid picture of who you are and what you’re trying to do.

Once that’s all done, you ask it to output a master prompt that summarizes everything. That master prompt becomes the foundation for every future title and description request. You copy it, paste it into a new chat when you need a fresh start, and you’re off and running without having to rebuild all that context from scratch.

Getting AI to Write Titles and Descriptions for YouTube

Once your master prompt is in place, using AI for YouTube titles and descriptions becomes a lot more straightforward.

Give It the Details

When you’re ready to generate titles for a specific video, don’t just say “write me a title.” Give it real information. Where were you riding? What were the key moments? What point were you trying to make? The more context you give, the better the output.

For example, I’ll tell it I’m on my Ninja 400, it was a Thursday afternoon ride, here are the key things that happened, here’s what the video is about. Then it can actually do something useful with that.

Use It to Learn, Not Just Generate

One thing I started doing that I’d recommend to anyone is asking AI to explain its reasoning. I’ll ask it to give me three title and description options that work together and then explain why each one works and why my original idea might be weaker.

It’s a real education. There have been times where I thought a title was solid and AI pointed out that almost nobody searches for that specific thing. Like if I had a video about riding to Greisemer’s Mill Covered Bridge and my title was literally just that, AI might say look, almost nobody is searching for Greisemer’s Mill by name. Here’s what they are searching for that also fits this video. And it keeps me away from clickbait at the same time because it knows I don’t want any part of that.

What About AI Thumbnails?

I’ve used AI for thumbnails exactly once. It was for my Walt Incognito video where I needed to put the Chrome incognito icon on my body. It got the job done technically but it left me feeling off because it was very obvious it was AI.

I’ve seen other channels do it well, some even lean into it full on with cartoon versions of themselves riding down the road, which is a vibe. But for me right now, I’m much more comfortable with AI handling the text side of things, the titles and descriptions, the copy I’m not good at. Thumbnails I can be mediocre at for a while while I keep learning. Some would say that’s backwards. Maybe. But it’s where I’m at.