AI-powered video technology is evolving so quickly that even creative professionals have plenty to experiment with. Daryl Anselmo, a creative director turned digital artist, has been experimenting with the technology since its inception, posting AI-generated videos daily starting in 2021. He told me that it uses a wide range of tools, including Kling, Luma and Midjourney, and is constantly improving. For him, testing the capabilities of these artificial intelligence tools is sometimes a reward in itself. “I'd like to think there are impossible things that you couldn't do before that have yet to be discovered. That's what excites me,” he says.
Anselmo has compiled his daily creations over the past four years into an art project called Backupwhich has exhibited in many galleries, including the Grand Palais Immersif in Paris. There is an obvious focus on mood and composition. Some clips look more like an arthouse vignette than a throwaway meme. Over time, Anselmo's project took a darker turn, with his subjects moving away from landscapes and interior design to more body horror, which attracted Garibay.
His breakthrough piece, feel the ahaa hyper-realistic bot is shown opening up its own skull. Another video he recently shared shows a midnight diner populated by anthropomorphized potatoes called The one who is worried; With its vintage palette and slow, mystical soundtrack, this piece is reminiscent of a nocturnal fever dream.
Another benefit of these AI systems is that they make it easier for creators to create recurring spaces and casts of characters which operate as informal franchises. Lim, for example, is the creator of a popular AI video account called Dear aunties, inspired by the “aunty culture” of Singapore where she is from.
“The word 'aunties' often has a slightly negative connotation in Singaporean culture. They are portrayed as old-fashioned, grumpy and lacking boundaries. But they are also so resourceful, funny and easy-going,” she says. “I want to create a world where things are different for them.”
Her cheeky, playful videos feature older Asian women blending in with fruit, other objects and architecture, or simply living their best lives in a fantasy world. Viral video called Aunt Lantiswhich has 13.5 million views on Instagram, features silver-haired aunties as industrial mermaids working in an underwater waste processing plant.
There are also Grandma spillsan AI video account featuring a glamorous and sassy older woman sharing hot opinions and life advice to a street interviewer. Within three months of launching, he gained 1.8 million followers on Instagram, posting new videos almost every day. Although the grandmother's face looks slightly different in each video, the pink color scheme and her outfit remain largely the same. Creators Eric Sueres and Adam Waserstein told me that their entire workflow, from writing the script to creating the scenes, is based on artificial intelligence. As a result, their role becomes close to creative directing.
These projects are often based on merchandise, miniseries, and branded universes. For example, the creators of Granny Spills have widened their net by creating a black and Asian granny to cater to different audiences. Grannies now appear in crossover videos as if they live in the same fictional universe, redistributing traffic between channels.
