[amadvance]

> I will tell my computer to blank the screen and mute the audio when an ad is playing.

Indeed, but you'll still have to wait for the ad to play. YouTube can definitively win this race if they decide so.

[Buttons840]

I agree this form of blocking will be less appealing to many, but personally, I wouldn't mind a few moments to just breathe, especially when I'm doing ad heavy things. Instead of blanking the screen I might instead show a screen that says "Is there something better you should be doing?".

[jackdh]

At that point I would auto download any videos from my subscriptions so they are controllable locally. Then an AI or integration with an Sponsorblock could skip the adverts.

Host this all in a system similar to plex and it would be quite transparent.