AI-generated video has often spurred fears about misinformation and deepfakes rather than optimism about its potential uses, but communicators need to get comfortable with the medium to prepare for the future. After all, there is great potential ahead, but also pitfalls.
Ragan asked AI experts to take a look at Crystal GPT and share what they predict for the future of video storytelling and how communicators can prepare.
Future plans
Given the increasing prevalence of AI-generated text and images, it’s safe to say that AI will continue to permeate all types of video in the coming months and years.
“AI will become the foundation for much of video storytelling in the next few years because it can save companies a lot of time and money,” says Stephanie Nivinskas, CEO of SizzleForce Marketing. As a result, “as the technology advances, it will become increasingly difficult for humans to distinguish between videos created with AI and those made without it.”
Steve Mudd, CEO of Talentless AI, also predicts that AI will lower the barrier to entry into video content creation, an extension of the ongoing trend in which platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels have simplified social video creation for consumers, reducing the cost and time it takes.
“With synthetic media, you can prepare dozens of videos in the time it takes to create one,” Mudd says. “For businesses that rely on a consistent stream of video content, this is a game-changer, closing the gaps that often appear on social media when content runs out.”
David Quiñones, vice president of editorial and content at Rock Orange, is worried about what's next, but sees pros and cons. “Hopefully, the biggest impact AI will have is to democratize the space, making the barrier to entry so high that the only limit for independent creators is their imagination,” he says. “It will likely be 'disruptive,' but frankly, it's going to require a shakeup from the big content providers: music labels, movie studios, streaming services, network TV.”
The future is (more or less) here
So far, AI-generated video has mostly been seen in the realm of deepfakes, AI influencers, and one-off stunts, but some brands and organizations are starting to dip their toes into more practical applications.
Nivinskas noted that AI video software company Synthesia, for example, has a video testimonial from Heineken, which developed the software, and he expects to see video experiments as well, as Arizona State University partners with OpenAI to shape the future of higher education with AI.
Mudd noted that Perplexity's daily podcasts use synthetic voices, which could be incorporated into more video storytelling in the future.
But it's not all smooth sailing from here on out.
During Ragan's recent presentation at the Social Media Conference, Quiñones pointed out that the AI tool Stable Diffusion was used to create the opening credits for the Disney+ show “Secret Invasion.” The backlash on social media was swift and fierce, with fans expressing their anger at what they saw as a lazy move that replaced human creativity with AI.
He suggests experimenting cautiously and waiting for others to fail. “As a content professional who also works in crisis management and strategy, I strongly encourage partners not to be on the front lines of AI video content adoption,” he said.
Transparency is the way forward
As always, ethics and copyright are major factors shaping the course of AI-generated storytelling, and the industry and lawmakers have a lot of work to do.
“Synthetic media companies have become more proactive about guardrails in their systems to prevent unauthorized reproductions of people, known as deepfakes,” Mudd said. “Not knowing what data is being used to train the models casts a dark shadow over the technology and its applications. Big tech companies need to be more transparent than they have been in the past.”
This ambiguity over sources has already led to major lawsuits, such as the New York Times' lawsuit against OpenAI.
The key for communicators today is to be honest about what you’re trying to do and what tools you’re using.
“AI remains a polarizing concept for a wide swath of the public,” Quiñones said. “The biggest pitfall is transparency, or more specifically, the lack of it. If you show people things created by AI, you run the risk of eroding trust if you don't tell them.”
There's also the fact that AI-generated videos still often suffer from the uncanny valley effect. “Imperfections in videos that feature humans,” Nivinskas says. “For example, human eyes are incredibly expressive. In real life, we've all seen skeptics squint their eyes, frustrated people roll their eyes, and surprised people widen their eyes. Right now, most AI-generated videos produce humans that lack natural eye movements and other typical human characteristics.”
Quiñones believes the “mistakes” in AI-generated videos are beneficial to humanity: “Hundreds of thousands of years from now, this collective social-emotional response may be salvation, because fully AI-generated content, no matter how well prompted or well-considered, is simply not satisfying,” he said.
Ready
Nivinskas and Mudd advised communicators to learn the basics of popular software for AI-generated video by watching video tutorials on how it works, such as Synthesia, HeyGen, Eleven Labs, pika.art, twisty.ai and runwayml.com. Quiñones also suggested trying out Coursera's beginner courses.
“You start using the software yourself, you make mistakes, and then you're able to do things you never thought possible,” Nivinskas said.
The Ragan editorial team also tested tools like Lumen5 and Pictory to turn articles into videos. (Stay tuned!)
“You won't really know until you actually try the tools,” Mudd says. “The paradigm has shifted. This isn't about adapting old understanding to a new world. This is about throwing away everything you know and embracing a whole new paradigm.”
To learn more about the broad range of applications, tactics and lessons learned for shaping your AI-powered communications strategy, check out Ragan’s 2024 Future of Communications Conference, November 13-15 in Austin, Texas, and Comms Week events around the world.
Jess Zafaris She is the Content Director for Ragan and PR Daily, an author, editor, and social media strategist.
