AI in Video

To many of us AI appears to be ‘taking over’, generating content rapidly, at scale and in a way that responds to a client’s brief. Cheap, quick; create anything without leaving your desk.

All good – up to a point.

With AI, consumers have trust issues, and really, who can blame them?

The key words for consumer relationships are authenticity and integrity, and without governance, AI has neither.

For content that captures the nuance of human interaction and experience, AI can’t replace real footage. ‘Enjoy this video of a person using our product, neither of which exist’

But what AI can do well is work as brilliant to shape creative concepts, make visual and audio enhancements and speed up end-to-end process with stunning results.

Let’s talk about that.

We’ve all seen the headlines: AI can ‘learn’ a human voice and be used to deepfake a celebrity. What you might not realise is that it can also be used (more legitimately) to read an entire script in a multiplicity of ‘voices’.

This can be a useful quick fix, but the result doesn’t always shout quality. The difference might be subtle, but in our experience humans always prefer human voices, each with their own unique tonal colour and quality. And, when cast correctly they will subtly reinforce brand values, appealing to their target demographic.

Working with a skilled voice actor is remarkable, and a joy that transports a vision into full colour.

With audio, AI is good for subtly removing extraneous noise and hiss from a location recording, a type of AI audio enhancement that can take a soundtrack from congested to crisp and clear without detriment to the natural feel and quality. Sound fixing has always been a bit of a Holy Grail and it’s great to have it available. Stuart made some extreme examples – see what you think!

As can be seen all over social media, AI video creation programmes can be used to generate video footage from simple starting prompts. For example, take a black and white photo of Granny, make it colour and bring it to life in a video.

The main problem when using this method for professional content is that AI is often guessing 3D shapes from a 2D visual. It is also creating movement from a memory bank of videos, not from real life. The result is often an unexplainably odd feel, obvious mistakes such as extra fingers, an unnatural gait or a gravity defying float.

Use a video sample as the starting point, as a basis for AI enhancement, and the adaptations become more sophisticated. You can add or erase elements, change the environment and remove or even add background people and things.

Start from zero and the world is your lobster. You can create anything you heart desires. Hence the wild and bizarre you often find in your social feed, much of which is hard to identify as AI or ‘real’.

In a recent project we used AI to create a character for a cartoon project, we can manipulate it to interact, say and do what works best for the brand – the result is great.

We believe integrity and authenticity matter more than ever in a world where public trust around brand and media is at an all-time low.

What is real? Who can you trust? This is a significant and growing problem.

Whilst AI can be increasingly hard to spot, the nuance of human interaction is noticeable and felt by audiences looking for credible, trustworthy brands.

So, if you’re a brand that wants to develop a loyal network of advocates, (who as research shows will pay more for a brand they trust) it pays to invest in authentic content.

Content that builds trust, leading to loyalty and a willingness to choose your brand over a competitor.

Boreham Media’s role in all of this is to work collaboratively with you, the client, using whatever tools – cameras, lights, AI – that work best to get the right results for your project.

Our priority is integrity, and authenticity.