With the help of AI, marketers and creatives are saving hours, enabling them to produce more videos at a faster clip. Plus, AI tools are also helping bring advanced video editing features out of complex, expensive software platforms reserved specifically for large-scale production teams and into the hands of marketing teams.
As of June 2023, 30% of US adults are already using AI tools to create video content.
But brands are still navigating how AI tools will impact brand guidelines, legal and security considerations, and creative team workflows. Before diving into AI video tools, thoroughly vet them as a team and think through how your brand video process will need to evolve.
Here are some of the top considerations for brands using AI to produce video content — from fact checking to ethics — along with tips from a video expert.
In this article →
- What are the risks for brands using AI tools for video production?
- What are the benefits of adding AI to the video production process?
- 5 AI video production best practices
What are the risks for brands using AI tools for video production?
Using generative AI tools to create content brings brand safety risks, especially for brands that work with influencers, agencies, or any external content creators.
Here are some of the risks brands should consider when using AI tools to make video content.
Are AI-generated videos original content?
AI tools draw from existing content, so brands need to know where the final product comes from, and whether it’s considered original. When The Verge conducted a survey among US adults in June 2023, 43% of respondents felt that companies should ban copying artists using AI.
Disclosing the use of AI tools
Brands need to be aware that AI-generated content needs to be disclosed as such. 78% of Americans agree that AI-created digital content needs to clearly state that it was created using AI tools.
Legal implications of using AI avatars in videos and “deepfakes”
If you’re going to use AI avatars, or a likeness of someone manipulated using AI, you need the consent of the person being imitated. The Verge survey found that 76% of Americans feel that it should be illegal to imitate a real person using AI without their consent. Read up on video deepfakes and be prepared when using AI avatars in videos.
What are the benefits of adding AI to the video production process?
As long as you have a clear understanding of the risks and guidelines for using AI for video production, there are huge benefits for brands and individual creators.
Cut video production costs
Synthesia found that companies using AI for video production are saving up to 80% of time and budget versus traditional video production methods. Specifically, Teleperformance saves $5,000 per video by using AI and Xerox cut video production costs in half.
Scale educational video content and video messaging
It’s predicted that by 2025, large organizations will create nearly a third of all
outbound marketing messages with generative AI.
Reduce editing and overall production time
Wistia is exploring AI tools to cut production time like Runway AI to quickly remove background objects and Descript to automatically transcribe raw footage into text for video caption tracks.
Increase personalization and engagement
AI tools make it easier for video teams to scale personalized content. BSH saved 70% on video production costs by creating training videos with AI, and increased engagement by 30%.
Creating quality video content isn’t going to be replaced by AI tools, but enhanced by them — and who doesn’t want software that can take over some of the tedious, manual work to leave creative teams more time to be creative?
5 AI video production best practices
When you add AI into your video production process, take note of how AI tools should best be used to enhance creativity and protect your brand.
1. Combine human skills and creativity with AI efficiency to automate manual parts of the production process.
Generative AI tools are time-savers, but they have real limitations. “Generative AI is not ready to solve conceptual challenges. Tools can speed up your workflow but you have to know what you're trying to do, and give clear direction. In a lot of ways, it's still most important to have clarity of vision. Once you have that, AI tools can provide faster routes to the final deliverable,” shared Matthew Watkins, Creative Director at HubSpot. .
AI tools won’t be able to come up with a unique brand narrative or a killer new campaign, or work with collaborators across your organization to synthesize everyone’s hopes and dreams (and goals) into a new video project. But where AI can help is in automating the most tedious, time-consuming elements of marketing video creation, including:
- Editing out “um”, “uh”, and long pauses out of video podcasts or interviews.
- Adjusting audio levels for clear listening (even when recording conditions weren’t ideal).
- Doing instant color grading using text queries (e.g. “make this video look more vibrant”).
- Inpainting to remove unwanted elements in raw footage.
- Removing the background in raw footage and adding text behind subjects.
- Rotoscoping.
- Trying to get subjects to read off a teleprompter (when they’d really rather not be on video at all) — AI-powered avatars can deliver scripts instead.
- Adjusting eye contact to look more natural.
- Creating natural-sounding VO, with regionally specific accents.
Watkins also shared that though AI technology is about as buzzy as it gets right now, teams will have to learn its uses and its limitations. “Like any new tech, people are in a rush to be first to market, first to use. Folks can get lost in the sauce chasing something shiny, when the soul of any work is the goal and vision behind it. AI doesn't provide this, humans do.”
2. Fact-check AI-generated video content and thoroughly review for brand guidelines, accessibility, and quality.
AI tools aren’t perfect, and they won’t be able to create something you’ll be ready to publish without reviewing. Throughout the whole creation process, review drafts thoroughly and adjust as needed, ideally with several different people — representing brand, video/creative, and marketing — involved in the review process.
Some example things to look out for:
- Make sure that every word said by an AI-generated voiceover was pronounced correctly — especially the company and product names that an AI voiceover may not know how to pronounce.
- Double-check that every video has captions, and that they’re legible and correct.
- Ensure the tone of the video matches the tone of your campaign — an AI-generated script that goes unedited could sound off, or just be a little too generic.
- Check that all brand guidelines, from fonts and colors to voice and tone, match your company’s brand.
- Make sure talking head avatars feel relatively natural and don’t fall into the uncanny valley.
3. Practice and improve your AI querying skills.
When working with AI, especially chatbot-based tools, video teams can create scripts, images, animations, and even whole videos by simply asking the tool to create it. But learning to prompt AI tools correctly is an emerging, sought-after skill set that takes practice to build.
For example, if you start with “please fill in the background of this video” as the prompt for an AI-assisted inpainting tool, you may not get exactly what you’re looking for. Be as specific as possible. Try “please fill in the background with a green lawn and some wildlife in the distance”.
Learn more about prompt-writing in this primer from Midjourney.ai.
4. Use trusted AI video tools with clearly documented security, technology, and data sources.
AI technology is evolving — and fast. So, not all tools are created at the same caliber. Vet all new tools and the methodology and data sources they enlist before using them — especially before signing up for subscription-based payment plans.
5. Use AI tools to inform your video content plan.
Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper.ai can help marketers find SEO keywords they want to target with their videos, helping them perform better and boosting website authority. AI tools are also helpful for content repurposing — turn blog posts into videos, animate explanatory videos, or share comms messages and training sessions using AI avatars.
Brands are strategically using AI as a creative tool to make better videos
Brands like Wistia, HubSpot, and Xerox are already using AI to scale brand videos and educational content. They’re saving hours on manual editing tasks, coming up with new ideas for videos and repurposing existing content into a video format for wider reach.
As you ramp up video production and build out a video library, prioritize organization, tagging, and collaboration. Partner with video tools you trust as you foray into the world of AI-assisted creative production, and explore Vimeo’s video AI tools.
