There’s no question that AI has become the buzzword but like all trends there’s quality and some fluff.
For every pre-Be Here Now Oasis banger there is a small army of indie landfill that really never added much beyond wearing a cagoule.
So, here’s some potential AI tools and their drawbacks around video content creation.
But first, have a policy
Remember, a lot of what is being written or created about AI is from vendors or people who work in the private sector. Neither have to work under the constraints public sector comms do. If you are looking to use a tool in earnest, have a framework to use it safely.
I’ve blogged before on the importance of drawing from the UK Government AI playbook for drawing-up your policy. Don’t leave home without it.
Remember, that if you post AI assisted video onto a social channel you need to declare it as you upload to meet their terms and conditions.
A tool to animate an existing interview
You have someone who is happy to speak about being a foster carer but doesn’t want their identity revealed. That’s fine. You can use the audio from the video to create a chat. You keep the local accent, but you mask the identity through a cartoon rather than shooting the interview in silhouette to make them look like a gunman on the run.
There are plenty of tools that tell you they’ll take a video and then animate for you, but precious few actually do. In this example, I converted an mp4 video file into an audio mp3 and then uploaded it to the Adobe Express tool.
You can use Adobe Express or other tools to take a video and turn it into a cartoon.
Drawbacks: Be careful not to trivialise the subject.
A tool to create an avatar of a real person
You may need to create a series of training videos on a subject but you may not have the time ot the subject.
Creating an avatar may be one way to tackle this. But, beware. GDPR still applies and you’ll need to check with the subject each time you want to make a film.
There’s also the issue that a long video with the subject looking straight at the camera may not be the most engaging thing imaginable.
In this example, I’ve used HeyGen to create an avatar of me. I did this by using their website and my webcam to ensure I don’t just take a random video from the internet and create an avatar of them.
In the script I refer to ‘veed.io’. It’s actually created using HeyGen.
You can use HeyGen or other tools to create a video.
Drawbacks: GDPR and the voice clone may not be authentic.
A tool to make sure the subject makes eye contact with the camera
Some subjects are camera shy or may be looking at someone off camera. A lot of the time that’s probably fine. But just in case you have a subject that is shifting their eyeline an additional tool may be useful.
Here, I’ve used a tool to ensure the eyeline is always to the camera itself. I’m not entirely bowled over but it is worth pointing out that the finished results does what it says on the tin and also allows existing blinks.
You can use veed.io or other tools to make this correction
Drawbacks: the finished result may not look authentic.
A tool to create a cartoon of an existing video
Not satisfied with a straightforward video, here I’ve tried to give myself a cartoon look. Weirdly, it’s given me some grey hair at the sides and it’s also only allowed the export of three seconds. This isn’t the most generous of terms. You have to pay more than a free trial for longer.
You can use domoai for this.
Drawbacks: It’ll cost and you may want to be careful what subjects are chosen for this.
A tool to create a cartoon internal training video
If you have a process you need to explain then using a tool to create a ‘how to’ video may be useful.
You can use steve.ai or other tools to come up with a script and then produce the video using cartoon, AI generated footage or actual footage.
I’m not at all convinced with this level of outsourcing even if it had a decent stab at saying ‘Worcestershire sauce.’
You can use steve.ai or other tools for this.
Drawbacks: insincerity.
Using an AI-powered tool for subtitling
In the olden days, sub-titles needed to be added manually by a cycle of listening, pausing and then typing in words. This was very boring. It’s just the sort of thing that AI can devour. So, when the Kinemaster editing tool was upgraded to allow AI to transcribe clips I was very happy.
However, I quickly realised that the AI tool was making a guess at what was being said.
Someone I trained who made a video with the speaker talking about ‘Halesowen’ had the AI tool transcribe that as ‘Hell Zone’ in the sub-titles. This was not ideal when it was only spotted when it was published.
Always check against delivery.
You can use Kinemaster or a range of tools for this.
Downside: Be careful to spot mistranslations that could be embarrassing.
I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape ESSENTIAL AI FOR PUBLIC SECTOR COMMS, ESSENTIAL COMMS SKILLS BOOSTER, ESSENTIAL MEDIA RELATIONS and ESSENTIAL VIDEO SKILLS REBOOTED.
Creative commons credit: Audrey Hepburn and crew on Wikimedia Commons.