TikTok AI Alive: New Image-to-Video Tool Launched

TikTok Introduces AI Alive: Image-to-Video Functionality

TikTok has recently announced the release of its inaugural AI-powered image-to-video feature. This new capability, known as “TikTok AI Alive,” empowers users to transform still photographs into dynamic videos directly within TikTok Stories.

Accessing and Utilizing the Feature

Currently, the feature is exclusively available through the TikTok Story Camera. It leverages artificial intelligence to produce concise video clips incorporating “movement, atmospheric effects, and creative enhancements,” according to TikTok.

Consider a photograph depicting a seascape with a sky, clouds, and ocean. TikTok AI Alive can convert this image into a video where the sky’s colors subtly change, clouds appear to move, and the sound of crashing waves is audible. Alternatively, a group selfie can be animated to accentuate gestures and facial expressions.

Expanding AI Capabilities

This launch follows TikTok’s earlier introduction of an in-app text-to-image AI generator several years ago. While platforms like Instagram and Snapchat also provide text-to-image AI tools for content creators, TikTok is now advancing the technology by enabling video creation from images.

Notably, Snapchat has also indicated plans to soon offer AI video generation from images to its users.

Transparency and Safety Measures

Stories created with AI Alive will be clearly labeled as AI-generated to inform viewers. Furthermore, these videos will include embedded C2PA metadata.

This metadata serves as a technical standard, facilitating the identification of AI-generated content even after it has been downloaded and shared outside of the TikTok platform.

Commitment to Safety

“We consistently prioritize safety in our development process, and this extends to our AI innovations,” TikTok stated in a blog post. “As this technology unlocks new avenues for creative expression, it undergoes rigorous trust and safety evaluations to safeguard our community.”

To mitigate the creation of policy-violating content, moderation technology reviews both the uploaded photograph and the AI generation prompt, as well as the resulting AI Alive video, before it is presented to the creator.

Reporting and Final Checks

TikTok emphasizes that users can report videos suspected of violating the app’s guidelines. A final safety assessment is conducted once a creator shares an AI Alive story.

Creating an AI Alive Video

Users can initiate an AI Alive video by accessing the Story Camera and selecting the blue plus button on either the Inbox or Profile page. A photo can then be chosen from the Story Album.

The AI Alive icon will then become visible on the right-side toolbar within the photo editing interface.