The release of advanced AI tools like ChatGPT has compelled everyone to think more deeply about AI’s role in our lives and work, and whether it’s something we should embrace or fear. While AI’s been an integral part of video production for a while now (think: YouTube subtitles), recent advancements have brought into question its impact on the creative process, from writing to shooting to editing.
Recently, VEED CEO Sabba Keynejad and VP of Marketing Leila Woodington sat down to chat about video’s place in the AI revolution and where it's headed. They explored a range of topics, including how the speed of AI empowers people to create more videos faster, how teams use AI to solve interesting problems, and how the personal, raw stories our users create can never be replicated by a machine. And most importantly, why human creativity and craft are more essential than ever. We captured their thoughts and organized them into a digestible read below.
A clever side note: This blog post perfectly illustrates points made in Sabba and Leila’s conversation: Their exchange was recorded on video and transcribed with VEED AI, and that transcription was condensed and edited into a more expanded piece by a real human writer for easier reading. We hope you, as another human, enjoy this AI-human-generated content.
How Does AI Align with VEED's Mission to Make Video More Accessible?
AI is a powerful tool to support our mission to democratize video creation. VEED disrupted the video creation process by taking video recording and editing from the offline world — and putting it in the browser. Our single-source, user-friendly, intuitive interface means you no longer have to juggle large, complicated files and deal with annoying downloads. Anyone with a computer and a WiFi connection can create a professional-quality video more quickly and at less cost.
Now, VEED AI brings the latest generation of AI technology to your workflow. Our “one click wonder” AI tools automate complex tasks, enhance creativity with easy-to-add effects and filters, and foster accessibility and inclusivity with automatic subtitles and translations. Creators can make amazing videos faster, free up time for creativity, and optimize content for global audiences in seconds.
That’s why AI aligns so well with VEED’s mission — it makes video production even more accessible to everyone. it’s the silver bullet across the whole pipeline.
“AI isn’t going to replace filmmaking, right? It’s actually just something that’s going to help you do stuff a bit faster. It’s like auto-correct on your phone — AI doesn’t remove the need for writers; it just helps everyone write faster.” — Sabba Keynejad, CEO of VEED
How Can Human Creativity Thrive with AI?
“The less time you have to spend on the routine parts of production, the more time you have to think about the storytelling and the craft," says Leila Woodington, VP of Marketing at VEED.
AI speeds things up and creates a baseline for production, but it can’t meaningfully replace the creative decision-making, originality, and heart that comes from a human being driving the process. To truly bring a story to life, creators still have to write with emotion, shoot scenes from real life, and edit in ways that showcase their unique directorial point of view.
Reflecting on his career, Sabba shared an insight from one of his teachers: “He said, ‘Everything communicates something.’ If you choose to do a relatively boring talking-head video of AI, what does that tell me? It tells me that you didn’t make time to shoot it yourself. It tells me that you’re maybe looking for a faster solution. It tells me that you’re not looking to make something super engaging. But compared to something you shot yourself, where put thought into the scripts and the visuals? That tells me you care.”
AI is a Great Companion in Your Journey to Making Great Content
Over six million videos are created with VEED each month, and many of those are raw, personal videos that the creator shot themselves. VEED helps creators take their unpolished material and do something amazing with it in the shortest amount of time. Says Sabba, “Think of a person talking directly to the camera, telling their story, unfiltered — there’s magic in that.” AI enhances what you do; it doesn’t replace what you do with something impersonal or novel.
We also get that not everyone wants to show their face on camera — maybe they’re more introverted, self-conscious, or just want their video to appeal to different audiences. With VEED, you decide. “We’re always trying to make video creation more accessible and inclusive,” says Leila, “If you like to be on screen you can do it that way, and if you still want to communicate in the video but don’t want to have yourself present, you can do it the other way.”
With the launch of VEED Avatars, you can use AI to make a video with a digital stand-in for you or another person. AI Avatars can help anyone create engaging content, with no need to hire professional actors or learn on-camera presentation skills. Avatars also empower diversity and inclusion as they can represent a wide range of genders, ethnicities, and ages.
AI is Not Here to Take Over — It’s Simply a Tool
“With any new technology, people fear it. When the printing press came, people thought that books were going to ruin the world. Same with television. There are people who are terrified of AI, and how it might take their jobs or spread disinformation.”
Leila raises a point that’s top of mind right now. Many people, especially creators, are wondering how AI might help and hurt them. But until we can sufficiently understand these concerns, the best path forward is to find ways to make AI work for us.
Leila continued her thought by asking Sabba how VEED balances the efficiency of AI with human creativity, posing specifically, “How does VEED look to be a responsible user of AI?”
Sabba’s response was refreshing and clear: VEED believes in using AI as a tool to support creativity and craft, not upend it.
Our customers can trust that we’re keeping a close eye on AI developments and taking steps to prevent our technology from being abused. We have checkpoints in place to help discourage and protect against the misuse of AI such as user verification, billing information requirements, gating of certain features so only registered users can access them and we know who they are, usage policies, and more. As a platform for this technology, we also have principles around how we think about AI in the larger world.
Everyone’s Doing AI. What Makes VEED Different?
“People are talking about the shiny stuff but it’s really the day-to-day stuff that I hear about that I think is interesting and overlooked at times,” says Leila.
Leila — who, in addition to being our VP of Marketing, is a parent — used VEED AI to generate a personalized bedtime story for her son. (Fun little summary for you: Her son has stinky feet that repel dragons — a dragon comes, their town is scared, and Leila’s son takes out his stinky feet to frighten off the dragon and save the day!) And customers like Ventura Foods use VEED AI-generated video subtitles to communicate health & safety information with their employees on the noisy factory floor.
VEED AI tools like AI script and image generation and auto-subtitles help users craft stories and solve problems. And Magic Cut, our latest one-click AI tool, makes video creation even better: Now you can simply upload raw unedited footage to VEED and get a ready-to-share video in a single click.
These tools (and more tools to come) are here to add, not subtract from your craft. You’re still the human guiding the tool — no matter its power. As you ride the wave of this technology change, we hope you keep Sabba’s words in mind: “The human element is still so, so important. It’s the creative decisions you make that matter.”
Ending Note
Big thanks to Sabba and Leila for diving into this all-important tool and topic for video creators, and helping to underscore how VEED’s mission to democratize and simplify video editing is further enhanced by AI technology.
Our thinking on AI is always expanding. As the technology continues to advance, we’ll keep pace, evolving the tools we offer and updating you on how they can empower your creative process. For example, right now, VEED AI technology lets you translate your videos into 60+ languages so you can reach new corners of the world faster, automatically add subtitles to your video's audio and text in seconds, recognize and remove unwanted background noise for clean, crisp audio, and a lot more.
Try VEED, free: See for yourself how AI can help you create even more human-video things (while staying human).
