Yet it still learns from what I watch and though it throws some clickbait into the mix it's mostly stuff that's relevant to my interests.
You never know what it's leaving out though, so a service that curates videos based on stated interests might be interesting. On the other hand I already spend too much time on YouTube so it's not like I need more to watch.
Youtube has a tremendous library of videos, tremendous in volume and topic. You are going have to give the algorithm a little more to work with. A curation service seems nice on paper, but I think you will actually miss out on more that way, as it'll remain static over time. My YT interests ebbs and flows between various topics over time. Sometimes the algo throws something unrelated in, that takes me down a total rabbit hole for months. My current rabbit holes are synthesizers with a dash of urban planning. I basically self-curate by using subscriptions, and if the latest batch of videos from a creator move beyond my current tastes, I unsubscribe.
It has some recency bias on "junkfood" I might watch from time to time but it clears away quickly.
Sometimes my wife will accidentally watch something on the TV's YouTube app without signing in to her account first, and then the history delete feature comes in quite handy to ensure I don't get any knitting or kpop videos in my feed.