Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept; it has become an integral part of the video production industry. As a Producer and Agency Owner, I’ve witnessed firsthand how AI is reshaping not just how videos are produced, but how they are conceptualised, refined, and delivered. In the video production industry, time is money. Deadlines are tight, and clients expect fast turnarounds without compromising on quality. This is where AI has been a game-changer. From ideation through to post-production, AI is now at the heart of many processes that were once time-consuming and labor-intensive. But while the current applications are transformative, the most significant changes are still ahead of us. Here’s my take on where we stand today and where we’re headed.
Concept Development
In the ideation phase, AI has become a critical tool for speeding up the creative process by broadening the scope of idea generation. AI tools like GPT allow creatives to prompt AI for a wide array of top-line concepts, producing thought starters aligned with a brief. These AI-generated ideas provide a broad base for creatives to iterate upon.
At Story Machine, we use AI to enhance and speed up ideation, allowing our team to explore multiple directions quickly. Rather than relying on traditional brainstorming methods, we use AI-generated concepts as springboards, enabling human creatives to refine and distill the best ideas. This approach not only accelerates the ideation process but also results in concepts that are more informed by data and audience preferences. AI is not a replacement for creativity, but it offers a broader canvas for humans to work from, improving both speed and quality in the early stages of a project.
Communicating Creative Ideas
The development stage is where AI’s impact is most visible in helping creatives visualise ideas and communicate them to clients. Tools like MidJourney, SORA, and DALL·E allow us to generate lifelike visual representations of concepts, reducing the need for manual mockups or endless searching for references. This accelerates the feedback and approval process, as clients can see clear and detailed previews of the creative direction.
At Story Machine, we are already using AI-generated imagery to present fully fleshed-out concepts early in the development phase. This helps eliminate the guesswork that often accompanies early-stage client discussions. Looking ahead, we anticipate that AI-generated video representations—mockups of ads complete with AI voiceovers—will become standard practice in pitches. As AI progresses, this will enable us to present clients with highly accurate previews of their ads before a single frame is shot, giving them a clearer vision and streamlining approvals.
Post-Production
AI’s role in post-production has been nothing short of revolutionary. Editing, colour grading, and audio enhancement—tasks that once required significant time and skill—are now being accelerated and improved by AI-driven tools. Applications like Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve offer AI-powered automation, including text-based editing where users can input dialogue transcripts, and the software cuts the video accordingly. This is especially useful for projects with long interviews or dialogue-driven content.
AI-powered audio enhancement tools also improve sound quality by removing noise and boosting clarity, a task that once required expert technicians. Moreover, DaVinci Resolve’s copy-grade function allows editors to automatically apply professional colour grading from reference images, making high-end production accessible even on smaller budgets. These tools, now integrated into our workflow at Story Machine, allow us to deliver high-quality results faster and more affordably than ever before. AI has democratised the post-production process, ensuring that even smaller brands can achieve professional-grade outputs.
The Future of AI Video Production
While AI’s current role in video production is transformative, the future holds even more exciting possibilities. We are quickly approaching a point where synthetic video content—entirely AI-generated—will become the norm. Brands will soon be able to create multiple variations of an ad, tailored to specific audiences, without the need for reshooting or costly post-production processes.
This level of customisation will allow marketers to target consumers more effectively and at a much lower cost. However, as AI-generated content becomes more prevalent, we will need clear regulations to ensure transparency. Audiences should be able to distinguish between real and AI-generated media, especially in fields like political advertising or influencer marketing, where authenticity is crucial.
AI-Driven Entertainment
The potential of AI extends beyond marketing and into entertainment. Where platforms like Netflix currently offer curated recommendations, AI could soon enable viewers to create their own content. Imagine sitting down to watch a fully personalised show, generated in real-time based on your favourite movies, genres, and characters. This AI-driven, on-demand entertainment would create an entirely new level of interaction between the viewer and the content.
We predict that it’s only a matter of time before platforms like Netflix begin offering this kind of AI-generated entertainment, allowing users to build custom shows as easily as they might now request a story from GPT. This shift would fundamentally change how we consume media, transforming passive watching into an interactive, personalised experience.
Conclusion
AI is on track to dominate the future of video production, particularly in areas like performance marketing, high-volume content creation, and casual viewing. However, while AI will continue to handle the technical aspects of content creation with increasing precision and efficiency, human creativity will still command a premium. The exploration of humanity, empathy, and emotion through storytelling is something AI cannot fully replicate.
At Story Machine, we believe that while AI will automate many processes, the demand for true artistry and craftsmanship will only grow. High-end productions and emotionally resonant narratives will always require the human touch. As AI becomes more deeply embedded in video production, those who balance the technical capabilities of AI with the creative brilliance of human ingenuity will lead the way in this new era of storytelling.
