The Potential of AI Video with Seth Woodall

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Marketing Architects – "The Potential of AI Video with Seth Woodall"

Episode Overview

In this insightful episode of The Marketing Architects, hosts Alena Jasper, Angela Voss, and Rob Demar delve into the burgeoning realm of AI-driven video marketing with special guest Seth Woodall, Director of AI Visual Arts at Misfits and Machines. Released on March 25, 2025, the episode explores the current state and future potential of AI in video production, addressing both the opportunities and challenges it presents to marketers and creatives alike.

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1. Introduction to AI in Video Marketing

The episode kicks off with a lighthearted exchange among the hosts, underscored by Seth Woodall’s playful AI-generated appearance. This sets the stage for a deep dive into the role of AI in modern marketing.

Key Quote:

Alena Jasper [00:35]: "We're joined by a guest, Seth Woodall, the director of AI Visual Arts at Misfits and Machines."

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2. Coca-Cola’s AI-Generated Holiday Ad: A Case Study

Alena introduces a controversial example: Coca-Cola's latest AI-generated Christmas commercial, which mimicked their iconic 1995 "Holidays are Coming" ad. The reception was mixed, with some praising the innovative use of technology while others criticized it for lacking emotional depth.

Key Discussion Points:

• Emotional Authenticity: The AI-generated ad struggled to capture the warmth and nostalgia of traditional campaigns.
• Industry Reactions: Creatives like Alex Hirsch voiced concerns, highlighting fears of AI undermining artistic integrity.

Key Quote:

Alena Jasper [02:55]: "The question posed at the end of the article, which I think we'll attempt to answer today, is this: will consumers ever fully embrace AI-driven storytelling, or will they always crave that human touch?"

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3. AI as a Tool for Creatives: Opportunities and Concerns

Rob and Seth discuss the dual-edged nature of AI in creative industries. While AI can democratize content creation, allowing individuals without traditional resources to produce compelling videos, it also raises concerns about job displacement for seasoned professionals.

Key Quote:

Rob Demar [03:35]: "If we want to be true purists and be that precious about our craft, then we have to go back to paper, pencils, and paint, because we've been using [AI] tools for years."

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4. Seth Woodall’s Journey: From Early Filmmaker to AI Video Pioneer

Seth shares his career trajectory, highlighting his transition from traditional filmmaking to harnessing AI technologies. He recounts creating the "Pepperoni Hug Spot" video—a pioneering AI-generated commercial that unexpectedly gained viral traction.

Key Quote:

Seth Woodall [07:50]: "The pepperoni huck spot was really just the outcome of a free afternoon. I had been interested in these tools and I had other friends that were also either in the video industry or photographers or something."

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5. The Evolution and Future of AI Video Production

Seth and Rob explore the advancements in AI video technology, anticipating significant improvements in quality and natural movement. They foresee AI becoming seamlessly integrated into production workflows, enabling personalized and high-quality content at scale.

Key Discussion Points:

• Quality Enhancements: Transitioning to 4K outputs and more natural human movements.
• Personalization: The potential for creating tailored content for individual consumers.
• Future Integration: AI becoming as ubiquitous in production as smartphones are in daily life.

Key Quote:

Seth Woodall [17:24]: "I think the next thing we'll see is an improvement in quality. So we're seeing right now a lot of platforms move to a 4K output, which is really huge for us."

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6. Tools and Techniques: Navigating the AI Video Landscape

The conversation delves into specific AI tools and methodologies, such as Loras, Runway Gen 2, ComfyUI, and Flux. Seth emphasizes the importance of customization and the continuous evolution of open-source platforms that expand the capabilities of AI video production.

Key Quote:

Seth Woodall [23:00]: "We've been doing a lot with Loras. I guess on the surface level, there are all these providers like Runway and Cling that provide a very specific function on their website."

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7. Debunking Common Misconceptions About AI Video

Alena and Seth address prevalent misunderstandings surrounding AI video creation. Contrary to popular belief, producing high-quality AI videos requires significant post-production effort and expertise, debunking the notion that AI can effortlessly generate perfect content from simple prompts.

Key Quote:

Seth Woodall [25:53]: "The biggest misconception I see is that this stuff is easy... there's a lot that goes into... changing prompts. So I've tried to think of these as tools."

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8. AI Video Beyond Television: Expanding Marketing Horizons

Alena broadens the discussion to encompass AI video applications beyond TV commercials, including social media content, product videos, and personalized marketing materials. The hosts highlight how AI can enhance content efficiency, reduce production costs, and enable unprecedented levels of personalization.

Key Quote:

Rob Demar [26:59]: "There's so many benefits for marketers to be thinking about when it comes to the utilization of AI in their workflow... Time, the cost and the constraints involved in shooting."

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9. Insights and Strategic Recommendations

The episode concludes with strategic insights for marketers considering integrating AI into their video production processes. The emphasis is on embracing AI as a tool to enhance creativity and efficiency rather than viewing it as a threat.

Key Quote:

Rob Demar [27:19]: "It's a tool. Figure out how to use it. Lean in."

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10. Fun AI Facts Segment

In a lighter segment, Seth, Rob, and Alena share intriguing AI facts, illustrating both the capabilities and quirky aspects of AI technology.

Key Quotes:

Seth Woodall [32:27]: "Back in 2017, researchers at Facebook were testing AI chatbots that eventually started communicating in their own language."

Alena Jasper [33:04]: "It's like severance a little bit. I kind of feel bad for the AI. Maybe they deserved a chance to continue on."

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Conclusion

This episode of The Marketing Architects offers a comprehensive exploration of AI's transformative impact on video marketing. Through engaging discussions and expert insights from Seth Woodall, listeners gain a nuanced understanding of how AI can revolutionize content creation, enhance personalization, and redefine marketing strategies. The conversation underscores the importance of embracing AI as an empowering tool, poised to unlock new creative potentials while addressing the evolving landscape of marketing and consumer expectations.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Alena Jasper [00:35]: "We're joined by a guest, Seth Woodall, the director of AI Visual Arts at Misfits and Machines."
• Rob Demar [03:35]: "If we want to be true purists and be that precious about our craft, then we have to go back to paper, pencils, and paint, because we've been using [AI] tools for years."
• Seth Woodall [07:50]: "The pepperoni huck spot was really just the outcome of a free afternoon..."
• Seth Woodall [17:24]: "I think the next thing we'll see is an improvement in quality..."
• Seth Woodall [23:00]: "We've been doing a lot with Loras..."
• Seth Woodall [25:53]: "The biggest misconception I see is that this stuff is easy..."
• Rob Demar [26:59]: "There's so many benefits for marketers to be thinking about when it comes to the utilization of AI in their workflow..."
• Rob Demar [27:19]: "It's a tool. Figure out how to use it. Lean in."
• Seth Woodall [32:27]: "Back in 2017, researchers at Facebook were testing AI chatbots..."
• Alena Jasper [33:04]: "It's like severance a little bit. I kind of feel bad for the AI..."

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Transcript

[Alena Jasper]

Marketing Architects. Hello and welcome to the Marketing Architects, a research first podcast dedicated to answering your toughest marketing questions. I'm Alena Jasper. I run the marketing team here at Marketing Architects, and I'm joined by my co hosts, Angela Voss, the CEO of Marketing Architects. And Rob Demar is the chief product architect of Misfits and Machines. Hi, guys.

[Rob Demar]

Hello, Ange. Like, what's the deal? Why. Why is she doing that?

[Alena Jasper]

Elena, I don't know.

[Rob Demar]

What?

[Seth Woodall]

Surprise.

[Rob Demar]

Yuck.

[Seth Woodall]

It's not real, Ang. I found out Ange wasn't going to be on this episode, and I was really disappointed, so I maybe deep faked her into this video. This is. She's only AI Generated.

[Rob Demar]

It's AI Ang. Oh, my gosh. Alana, do you have any big expenses you need approved right now?

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, actually.

[Rob Demar]

That's amazing. W. Very cool.

[Alena Jasper]

It's great. Seth, let us know when AI Rob can truly take over, because we're very interested in that.

[Seth Woodall]

We can talk after the. After the podcast.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, let's talk later.

[Seth Woodall]

I think we. We can already replace him.

[Rob Demar]

So how do you know this isn't AI Rob?

[Alena Jasper]

We're joined by a guest, Seth Woodall, the director of AI Visual Arts at Misfits and Machines.

[Seth Woodall]

Thanks for having me. Excited to be here.

[Rob Demar]

We are excited to have you here, Seth. Thanks for joining us.

[Alena Jasper]

We're back with our thoughts on some recent marketing news. Always trying to root our opinions in data research and what drives business results. Today, Seth is joining us to talk about AI Creative, specifically the current and future potential for brands using AI for video. Seth has a really cool background, and he's on the cutting edge of AI video tools and tech. So I'm confident every listener will learn new things from this episode. And I know this is an audio first medium, but we are going to talk a lot about video today, and we're going to showcase some of the stuff Seth is speaking to. So if you want to see any of that, head on over and watch this on YouTube. But before we dive in, I want to tee us up with a little bit of spice because this is the sort of topic that inspires a wide range of reactions from marketers and consumers. So I chose an article by Bruna Horvath for NBC News, and it's about Coca Cola's holiday marketing controversy. Famous for its heartwarming holiday ads, Coca Cola decided to experiment with AI for its latest Christmas commercial. They created a video that mimicked Coca Cola's beloved 1995 Holidays are Coming ad. But they had some AI generated people trucks and festive scenery. And the reaction was mixed. Some critics called the ad soulless and lacking real creativity. Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch even joked that Coca Cola's signature red comes from, quote, the blood of out of work artists. What's a little interesting is that this wasn't Coke's first AI generated ad. Last year, they released an AI ad called Masterpiece, and it was pretty well received. Some suggested it's because Christmas is such a core part of their brand. It's rooted in warmth, nostalgia, and tradition. And AI, at least in this case, struggled to capture some of that emotional depth. But Coca Cola, they stood by it. They called the ad a mix of human creativity and technology. And the question posed at the end of the article, which I think we'll attempt to answer today, is this, will consumers ever fully embrace AI driven storytelling, or will they always crave that human touch? I thought it was only right to address that sort of AI elephant in the room before we get too far today. So, Rob, you love this question. I wanted to ask what you thought when you initially saw that ad, and do you think the reaction to it says anything about the future for marketers and consumers, you know, embracing something like AI Video?

[Rob Demar]

Gosh, the blood of out of work artists. I mean, that's just. That was brutal right here, doesn't it? Look, I can understand why people freak out because the pace at which new AI technologies are being introduced and the opportunities they offer are happening at a speed unlike anything we've ever seen in human history. And it's not just for creative folks. It's in every industry. Us creative folk in particular are a bit temperamental, and we like to get pissed off when someone or something threatens our precious craft. Right. However, one thing I like to remind people of is Photoshop, Premiere Pro, Autoshop, even Shutterstock have been using AI for over 15 years. So, you know, AI is in the creative process is actually nothing new. But there's definitely headlines. Like, there's headlines in every industry just because of the pace at which it's being introduced. But we've been using AI tools for years. So, you know, if we want to be true purists and be that precious about our craft, then we have to go back to paper, pencils, and paint, because we've been using it a long time.

[Seth Woodall]

I think I understand the artist's perspective on this one. I guess I'm kind of on both sides of the line here. Since I got introduced to all of this stuff. I met an insane amount of filmmakers who never made anything before because they didn't have a camera or they didn't have friends or a budget or anything. So I understand that this technology may take away from someone that's been a grip their entire life in the next five years. But I also understand that there's this whole group of people that are dying to tell stories and never had the option before this technology emerged. And I think honestly, with these two Coke spots, the museum spot, which I believe was the first one that was released, was primarily live action with some 3D and visual effects built in. And then some of that was wrapped, if you will, sort of in some AI. Whereas with the Coke spot, that was 90% AI work that was then fixed at post with a lot of compositing and adding logos and color correction. So I think for me, the Coke holiday spot was kind of disappointing because if AI opens up all these new possibilities visually of what we can do and new stories we can tell, then why take a campaign from 40 years ago and just try to remake it using current technology? I think that's partially why it fell flat.

[Rob Demar]

That's a great point, Seth. It's like, why not show what's new and show the true opportunity that the AI can create and really break our brains with new visions.

[Seth Woodall]

I wouldn't say we're buddies, but I'm acquaintances with a couple of the people that worked on the commercial and it was a huge team of. And I think that was the other sort of misconception with all this tech is that there's one guy in a room, right, he's in his parents basement, he types in video commercial and out the other end comes this 30 second finished commercial. Whereas this was hours and hours of work. And it's silly, I think, to dismiss these tools just based on future implications within jobs and that sort of thing. Like these tools aren't going anywhere. And I think the quicker we can all embrace them as a tool and learn how to use them, you know, the better off we'll all be.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, well, Seth, that's why we have you here, because you're an expert. And I didn't even think about the difference between the two spots and how they were created. And I'm sure that's nuance that's often lost in this conversation. When you see an AI video, people assume that you're right. It was maybe one person creating the whole thing, but really it took a whole team. And I wonder too if recreating that old ad, some of that nostalgia hurt them because you probably had a lot of people that remembered that ad and now you're right, they're seeing a replica of it that doesn't look quite right and looks odd and it might be hitting them in a bad place. Personally, when I saw it, I thought it looked nice, but I had never seen the previous ad, so I didn't really have any context of what had come before. But we're really excited to have you here today. I was super excited for this interview because you have such an interesting background and now you're an AI video expert, which we probably wouldn't say was a thing. Just a couple of, couple of years ago when you joined ma, your name like came up because you were a part of this sort of AI video viral moment that I know maybe now you might want to distance yourself from, but it's something that I think most, if not all of our listeners will remember. So could you tell us about your career journey that led to creating the now infamous Pepperoni Hug Spot video and then kind of why you created that in the first place?

[Seth Woodall]

I'm old enough that we had a VHS camera when I was a kid, so I started making really terrible short films then. And then I was in my early 20s when YouTube came about, so I spent a lot of time with friends. We painted a wall in one of my friend's apartments green and we made just chirp shorts that still live on YouTube in some dark corner these days. But yeah, I've just been always really interested in telling stories and a friend of mine sent me a link to Midjourney and I think the summer of 2022, and I didn't know any of this generative tech was coming, so it kind of blew my mind to put a few words into a text prompt and get an image out. Even at the time it was, you know, it's really rough and nightmare fuel by comparison to what we could generate today. But it was really exciting. And then when Runway Gen 2 came out and all of a sudden we could create video, it was another really eye opening, kind of mind blowing thing. And then the pepperoni huck spot was really just the outcome of a free afternoon. I had, I. I had been interested in these tools and I had other friends that were also either in the video industry or photographers or something. So I kind of created as a gag just to share with them and they all thought it was funny enough and said, hey, go put it on the Internet. And yeah, it's kind of wild. I woke up the next morning and I had gotten a ton of hits on Reddit and Twitter. And someone was like asking for T shirts. So I immediately ran to like, set up a website and overnight someone had picked up the pepperoni hugspot.com web domain. So I was like, okay, maybe I'm onto something here. So, yeah, I threw up a website up and sold a couple of T shirts, and now here we are. It was a wild about two months. I had agencies calling from London and New York and California and Minnesota, obviously. And that's kind of how I got hooked up with you guys.

[Rob Demar]

Elon Musk tweeted about it and you were on like the Today show.

[Seth Woodall]

Yeah, it was a. An odd amount of interviews and impressed for such a kind of silly thing. Pizza Hut reached out and they ended up rebranding one of their stores, I believe, in Canada for the day, as a pepperoni hug spot. I've got. They sent me some official pizza.

[Alena Jasper]

You've got merch Spot.

[Seth Woodall]

Merch, yeah. So not what I expected to happen, especially from something again that was really just for like, internal consumption only. And then I just put it on the Internet on a whim.

[Rob Demar]

Seth, for those that haven't seen the video yet, how would you describe it?

[Seth Woodall]

It's terrifying. It's early video technology, so nothing looks quite right. It's a pizza commercial for a fake pizza restaurant called Pepperoni Hug Spot. And I used ChatGPT to write the script and 11 labs for the VO for the voiceover. I used an early AI music company for the background music. And then all the video was Gen 2. So it was, I think, kind of at its time, it was like one of the first fully produced spots that was all AI, even though there was obviously some human hands invol in the actual finishing.

[Rob Demar]

If someone just Googles AI TV commercials, it's organically, I think, the top spot in Google. So yeah, so if you want to check it out or just go to YouTube and type in AI pizza commercial and that'll get you there, you're gonna. You're gonna see that as well. It was remarkable as someone from the outside seeing it show up in the press to go, wow. I mean, how long ago was it actually that you. When you actually made it?

[Seth Woodall]

Mid April 2023.

[Rob Demar]

April of 2023. I mean, nowadays we're seeing all kinds of AI videos being created. This was way ahead of its time in terms of just someone going, geez, I wonder if we could do this. And it really just became an opportunity to see something that looked absolutely ridiculous. I mean, you really used the channel for what it was best at a time or the technology for what it was best at the time, which was to create a piece of humor that, that was, you know, obviously in the news with AI starting to percolate. But holy smokes. Just the possibility of this technology getting better and the fact that you used AI voice with it as well and you wrote the script, it was just a framework for what's next to come. So it's just. Yeah, I think that's probably what motivated so many people to go, what in the world.

[Seth Woodall]

And I, I still get a lot of comments on the video and you'd be surprised by how many folks more so then. But even now that say, oh, this looks terr terrible, this technology is a joke and can't see the forecast. Like this is. We're just still scratching the surface with what this tech can do.

[Rob Demar]

This is just math. It's just math. Right? It's just.

[Seth Woodall]

It's only going to get better.

[Rob Demar]

Exponentially better. Yeah, yeah.

[Alena Jasper]

Well, Seth, I think too you recreated it right. Recently. So people, if you go online and watch the commercial, you can watch the original and then just closer to where it's at today, which like it's leaps and bounds better.

[Seth Woodall]

Yeah. And the wild thing is that was with Gen3 and even that feels antiquated now. And that was maybe six months ago.

[Alena Jasper]

When the video came out. I remember seeing it and it seemed like the responses were a big mix. You know, some people were surprised, delighted, some people were horrified. I think I just thought it was funny. What was that time like for you? Like, I know you said like the response was just crazy, but were you surprised by maybe like the types of responses and obviously like Elon Musk tweeting about something you did. It's just hard to even comprehend. But what was that like for you?

[Seth Woodall]

You know, I've been editing or doing motion graphics for over 15 years now, so it was a little humbling to have agencies knocking on my door after I release this ridiculous pizza commercial. But no, it was excellent. You know, it was really fun, honestly. And you know, I got to meet Rob and Greg from MA and it was kind of a wild time. It was like every other day again I had somebody from the Today show reaching out or insider or whatever it was. And I'm not used to doing press for anything or so it was really fun. And then I, I would even get links sent to me like this Argentinian state news program that did a special on it or a news segment. So it was kind of hilarious every day to wake up and see some new piece of press about this thing. And if you recall, at the same time, there was a beer commercial. It was kind of like a backyard barbecue, but everything caught on fire by the end. And it came out, I think a day or two before or after I was in touch with those guys. They're at an agency called Private Island. But it was kind of fun because we'd be emailing each other stories back and forth of like, oh, did you see so and so talking about us or whatever. So, yeah, it was fun.

[Alena Jasper]

And we were rob, one of those agencies that saw this. I thought, I gotta talk to this guy.

[Rob Demar]

I'm like, who? I'm like, where? I literally. I'm like, I gotta figure out who did this, because he's going by this handle of pizza later, and you can't exactly find pizza later on LinkedIn. So I'm like, okay. I went on to Reddit and I figured out his email and contacted him. And yeah, so we're like, we just want to learn. We want to hang out, you know, And I think that was one of the things that became apparent to me as someone that's worked in the agency world for way too long, is that you're not going to find talent that is doing this off the shelf. These are hobbyists. These are people that are doing this because they want to do it, because they're interested by the technology, not because they're being told to go use the technology. No one likes to be told. And nor do you want to hire people that you feel like you have to tell them to go learn something. You want to find people who this lights up their day to go figure it out, to go look at what's next. Every day there's a new version of an application or a new application, and you want people that get excited when that comes out, not tired when it comes out, to go, oh, my gosh, I got to go figure out another thing. You're like, no, my gosh, Seth, the other week was like, I can't remember what the release was, if it was when you got access to VO3 or something. And Seth's like, oh, there goes my weekend. You know, and, you know, because that's just. It's fun. This is fun. This isn't work.

[Seth Woodall]

Absolutely. And the technology is moving so quickly that you can't get bored with it. There's something new literally every week, like you said, whether it's a new model or a new update to something or a new functionality within one of these models.

[Alena Jasper]

Seth, I'd say you're definitely oh, you're humble, but you are an early adopter of this stuff and there's not many people out there who have your type of expertise. I know that you're still reached out to by a lot of different industries that want and need to learn more about AI video. And like Rob said, like the people internally don't necessarily have that same experience. So why did you decide to join Marketing Architects? Why focus on TV advertising or like the TV commercial opportunity? Because it seems like you could apply this to a number of industries.

[Seth Woodall]

I think first and foremost the technology is useful right now for short form content like commercials make sense. Maybe we're not ready yet to tell a 90 minute movie, but moreover, I'm going to gush on you guys just a little bit and I hope this is allowed, but I had met with Rob and Greg multiple times and we all kind of hit it off. You know, I look forward to our zoom calls where we just chat about what was going on and maybe what Greg was seeing and Rob was seeing. And then after getting to spend some time with those guys and meeting a couple other MA employees, it was just clear that this company cares about its employees a lot. The angle you guys have taken with implementing AI is something that touches every employee's life, but it's a part of making their job easier and more efficient and less about, can we add to your workload? Can we replace this whole department using AI? So I, I just honestly was kind of taken aback by the enthusiasm of everyone I spoke with and the culture, I hate that word. And concerns, you know, corporate culture. But really the corporate culture was like it wasn't there. There was no corporate culture. This was like a small business of five employees that just happens to have a hundred plus folks that work at it. So honestly, that was that.

[Alena Jasper]

Well, let's talk about TV commercial production, which is an expertise of marketing architects. Where do you think that AI, specifically AI, TV Creative is at today? And then what might be possible in the future? I know that's a really annoying question that you probably get all the time, but maybe thinking like next year, next couple years, you know, 10 years from now, where do you think we'll be?

[Seth Woodall]

I think the next thing we'll see is an improvement in quality. So we're seeing right now a lot of platforms move to a 4K output, which is really huge for us, as opposed to a lower quality output that then has to be sort of cleaned up in post. I think we're going to see more natural movement. That was always to me, what I thought was going to hold back the technology we've seen very quickly with the text to image generators, that it went from kind of nightmare fuel mush to a beautiful portrait or whatever it is you can craft that. So I assume the fidelity of the image would improve quickly. But I didn't think we'd be nailing things like, oh, a human walk cycle or if you see someone running on a treadmill. We all our brains are very tuned to human movement and what looks natural. So I've been really impressed by Google's VO2 with that. And I think that's what we're going to see in the short term is just an improvement in motion and, and, and human movement or animals or whatever it may be. And then over the next few years, I think we're going to see AI get folded in much like computers did into our daily lives. And now we're all walking around with a cell phone. I think we're going to start seeing more of it in commercial production in general, and I think it's going to be less noticeable. Right. Right. Now, you said the Coke thing got a lot of fanfare. I know Toys R Us did AI commercial and they made a huge deal of it. I think next year, or maybe even towards the end of this year, we're going to see a lot of brands using it and not talking about it. It's just going to be a part of the workflow. And then beyond that, I think Rob and I have discussed this a little bit, and this is a little outside the realms of just commercial. But I think in the long term, we're going to see fully custom content, whether it's an advertisement that Rob gets fed during, you know, a commercial break of a sporting event. And you get a personalized version of that that's completely different from his, that is ultimately marketing the same product or brand. And then I think we're going to see a lot of personalized content on streaming services. I think you're going to sit down and either prompt out a whole new movie starring, you know, Rob and his wife. They want to do a romantic comedy and Channing Tatum happens to be our, you know, our lovable sidekick or whatever. I think we're going to see that and in good ways and bad ways. I don't know what that sort of does to our attention economy right now. You know, movies are less popular than they've been. We're constantly bombarded by distractions. So I don't know what happens when our content gets even more personalized and sort of niche. But anyway, I hate to leave it on a dark topic.

[Rob Demar]

Yeah, no, no, no. You know, and I do think you're right. We're crossing that chasm right now where AI is becoming imperceivable from the real video. And I think that's a brand new thing where before you look at things and just instinctually, you couldn't even tell why. You couldn't explain why, but you go, that's not a real person. And now I would challenge, when you look at some of the demos that seth creates with VO2, I could not tell you that was not a human. And you could go side by side and say, tell me which one's real. I can't. I can't tell you where. I couldn't say that even two months ago.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, I would say we definitely have some clients who are starting to use AI video, AI commercials in the way Seth's describing using them to be more nimble, create spots for certain holidays. And yeah, they're not talking about it. Like, you might not even know if you saw it. And of course, only certain types of commercials can be used from this. But we're definitely seeing that firsthand with clients, like, starting to use it. And it's not going to be like, Seth, you're saying as obvious as, like, yeah, the Toys R Us spot, the Coca Cola spot, pretty soon we're not going to be able to tell the difference.

[Rob Demar]

You're not going to be able to get mad at the commercial because you're not even going to know it won't even know.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, yeah, you can just get mad for all the normal reasons.

[Rob Demar]

Right?

[Alena Jasper]

Mad. Well, Seth, one thing I wanted to talk about is go a little bit beyond tv, because a lot of people that listen to this show, they might not necessarily invest in tv, but they definitely produce some sort of video, whether it's social, you know, digital video, product videos. Could you speak a little bit to just AI Video in general, like, what should marketers be aware of and maybe testing today and what's not possible today that they should be keeping their eye on for the future?

[Seth Woodall]

It is a lot to sort of try to stay on top of, for sure, especially if you're not as interested. But things have been moving so fast since Runway gen 1 and 2. And then, you know, last year we had the Chinese models come in with Cling and Hailu. And then this year seeing VO2 and a new engine from both Pika and Luma Labs. It can be a lot to keep up with. But if you're really interested. It. It doesn't take too long to find a good channel on YouTube that obsesses over this and puts out updates once a week. It makes, you know, sort of staying on top of this stuff a lot more manageable. I think, again, sort of just to touch on what we just discussed, we're going to get very soon past the point of there being any limitations. I don't, you know, I think you're going to be able to accomplish just about anything with this technology in the next six months or eight months. Again, to where it's not visible, you know, the viewer can't. It's imperceivable. It's not there. I think the biggest hurdle right now that we're all sort of waiting to overcome is the lack of control. All Generative AI is still very much a slot machine. Right. Like you can put the best prompt in the world in, but it may take 10 generations to get what you want, or it may take 20. So the company that can really lock in the ability to change camera angles with precision or manipulate the framing or even the blocking of a scene and how the actors move within it, that will be the one that wins out, at least in the short term. Otherwise it is. It's a big open question. Right? I'm not sure. I just, I feel like we're on this cusp where it's no longer what can it do and what are the limitations? It's what can I do? What can't you, you know, imagine that it can do for you?

[Rob Demar]

So, hey, Seth, how about specific tools? I mean, the models are always changing, adapting. I know you've already talked about quite a few of some of those models, but what are some of the other things that you've been experimenting with? I know there's like Loras and things like that.

[Seth Woodall]

Sure. Yeah. We've been doing a lot with Loras. I guess on the surface level, there are all these providers like Runway and Cling that provide a very specific function on their website. And then there are things like ComfyUI and Flux, which are these open source tools that kind of open up a whole new realm of possibilities because again, they're open source. So there's constantly all these folks in the communities building out new workflows and functionalities within them. So one of the things we've sort of been pursuing is taking it a step further with customization. And I'm going to try to keep this not too technical, but there are these things called Loras that you can train. And essentially it is an additional piece of information that you can give the AI to so we can fully understand what Rob looks like or what my glass looks like here or even a style, what a Picasso looks like. And once you have trained that data, it's like this little USB that you sort of insert into this workflow. And now the AI can do more specialized things. So one of the things we've been specifically looking at is can we build out Loras for products and create a whole new marketing campaign based around existing content as opposed to having to hire a photographer to come in and shoot new stuff or whatever it may be. The thing with all this is it's very technical, beyond sort of just going to clang and entering your prompt and everything.

[Rob Demar]

No, but why that, why that matters though is, I mean, you can't write a text prompt that's going to create a particular product in your product catalog, right? So you can train a Lora to be a particular product from your product catalog and then you can go ahead and create your footage and insert your product in there. And it, I mean, the camera motion, it's not like you're photoshopping your product or positing a product into a piece of video. You are literally generating a brand new piece of video, but your product is in it. And that's amazing. And that's something that isn't turnkey right now.

[Seth Woodall]

These custom workflows open up other things. There's like an ability to essentially do a try on feature. You can take a picture of Rob, you take a picture of a Hawaiian shirt and in 20 seconds the AI can redraw a new image of Rob wearing whatever it is. So there's all these very specific functionalities that I think we'll see emerge heavily used by retailers, you know, in mobile apps or web functions very soon.

[Alena Jasper]

And I think if you're a marketer, Seth, the advice you gave earlier about going to YouTube, just being aware of what's out there. It's not like every brand marketer is going to go log into these tools and be creating Laura. But being aware of it's important. And I also know that agencies like us, companies like Google, they are working on creating more turnkey tools where one day you're going to be able to log into a platform and create videos for your brand. But I still think it's important to be aware of what's out there. Another thing I wanted to ask you is just common misconceptions. It seems like there's a lot of them out there, like AI video people Are pretty skeptical. What do you think are like the most maybe common ones you hear and yeah, debunk them.

[Seth Woodall]

Something we kind of touched on earlier, I think is the biggest one I run into is that people assume that it's one person sitting down at a computer and they put a text prompt in and then immediately comes out this beautiful piece of media or picture or whatever it may be. And I have sort of aligned myself with some folks within the AI video community that work in a similar fashion that I do. And like, I prefer to again, think of these as tools. And if I generate a clip using VO2 or whatever it is, it's my thought process then is how can I push this further? What else can I do to this in post to make it fit the story I'm telling or whatever it may be? So I, I think that the biggest misconception I see is that, that this stuff is easy. I don't want to sort of play a victim here or anything, but there's a lot that goes into like if you see a well crafted AI video, there are hours and hours in posts that were spent cleaning up elements or changing prompt. So I think the weird part about all of this is is the text moving so fast that in six months we may be at a point where a fully functioning commercial does come out of a text prompt. Otherwise maybe you can give me some that you've seen or like what's something that you bump into? Maybe when you speak with a client about potentially using AI, sometimes it seems.

[Alena Jasper]

Like people, especially consumers, are just confident, like I would know it when I see it, which I know that there's a lot of brands right now using AI in small ways. Like you're saying like to augment commercials versus produce them from the ground up. And you'd have no idea just how much it's already present. Maybe that one, like people marketers not wanting to use it because they feel like it's going to look like AI. I think we're starting to move past that.

[Seth Woodall]

Right.

[Rob Demar]

I think it's becoming almost a social issue in some people's mind. Like, okay, well I don't want to support that type of work right now. It's, you know, like driving a Tesla. I don't know if I can say that or not. But the point being is sometimes activities, things can take on additional meaning. And are people scared of the boogeyman of AI right now? And what would that mean if it gets connected to my brand? People don't want to have negative press, so they don't want to be Coca Cola, even though it generated how much earned media because they used AI to promote a holiday spot. So that's just going to be probably a comfort level for a while. But the more that you don't know that it's AI, I think the more brands are just not going to care because the benefits are there. There's so many benefits for marketers to be thinking about when it comes to the utilization of AI in their workflow. When you think about the opportunity for massive content efficiency, I mean, just the time, the cost and the constraints involved in shooting. If you've ever been on a set, it is the most boring experience that you can possibly have. And it doesn't matter what you're shooting. It could be the most awesome shot in the world. But you had to sit there for umpteen hours in a video village waiting for this setup, waiting for shooting one angle, now shooting the next angle. I mean, there's just, there's so much complexity in a shoot when someone who on their computer can text prompt an amazing piece of footage in a matter of under a minute, it's light years ahead of the production process, I think too. Personalization at scale. You talked about that earlier, Seth. Our ability to create custom content, we already see the benefits of that in online marketing. So now being able to bring that same type of idea to video is huge. And quite honestly, your competitors are going to be doing it. So if you don't think it's a good idea, your competitors are excited because they do and they're going to be able to outsmart you. I think also just, you know, why does it ultimately matter right now? When you think about the acceleration of consumer expectations and just their need to have better content, their need to have more diverse content, more interesting content, they're going to want to see what your marketing team, what brilliance they can create with AI. It also is a huge, and you've mentioned this earlier, Seth, this is huge democratization of high quality creative. The iPhone made it so that anybody had an amazing film studio in their pocket. And AI is really going to take that to the next level. Agencies are going to be able to compete like they've never competed before because it's not about budget.

[Seth Woodall]

I also kind of understand the brands that are hesitant to touch this stuff or the consumer that maybe has a little fatigue just around the word AI in general. You know, in the last two years we've been inundated with it. Your refrigerator has smart AI tech that can tell you your eggs are going bad. Or whatever. You know, it's like it really is in like every function of our life. So I do understand that the fatigue that comes along with that. But also, as what you were just saying, I think we're going to see a lot of really fun storytelling and user generated, I hate to call it content because that feels really disposable. But really like people that have been aching to tell these stories that over the next few years will. So I don't know what that means for Hollywood or, you know, your favorite brand, but I think we're going to see things change dramatically over the next five years.

[Rob Demar]

You guys. Such a great point, Seth and I, I'll even go back as marketers. I think AI has a branding issue because everybody just throws it into the AI bucket. I mean, you're totally right. Like it's in your refrigerator, it's in your car, it's in your garage door opener. Now it's okay. But what are you actually talking about when you're talking about AI? It just right now it's sort of become this catch all.

[Seth Woodall]

It also has become something. And again, I'm sympathetic to a point, but like I still get comments from people that say AI slop on even, you know, stuff like, like I made this short film poof. That was important to me and I spent way too much time obsessing over every little detail. And I still get comments from people that said this was great, but it's trash because it's AI or I. I got the random comment of someone that said, I watched your behind the scenes and realized you put 50 hours into this. So you reached the criteria for me to appro what you made even though you used. They didn't say it in so many words, but that's what they were saying. So we're in this weird place. And again, I can sympathize with the artist that's concerned about losing their job. But Rob, you and I have talked about this multiple times. The cat's out of the bag, guys. It's here. It's not going anywhere. So you can stick your head in the sand or scream at the clouds in the sky all you want, but the tech is here, so it's a tool. Figure out how to use it.

[Rob Demar]

Lean in.

[Alena Jasper]

Lean in. Well, Seth, thanks so much for joining us today. It's been great just to to have you here to provide your expertise on this stuff. We like to end on kind of a fun note. So we each came prepared with an AI fact that people might not necessarily know about and this could be not just, you know, marketing related, but anything. So, Seth, do you want to kick us off?

[Seth Woodall]

Yeah, sure. And I feel like you guys will have heard of this, but back in 2017, the researchers at Facebook were testing AI chatbots, trying to see if they could get them to negotiate like humans and they could use them on, like, Facebook Marketplace. Two of the AIs were left alone. And after an undisclosed amount of time, the AIs ditched English altogether and started communicating in their own language that the developers could not understand. And basically they realized after the fact that the AI had invented its own language to optimize its ability to conversate. So they unplugged that very quickly.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, that's what he pulled a plug on that.

[Seth Woodall]

Right, Right.

[Alena Jasper]

I love that. It's like severance a little bit. Like, I kind of feel bad for the AI. Maybe they deserved a chance to continue on.

[Rob Demar]

Right.

[Alena Jasper]

It's like our innies are these AI champions.

[Seth Woodall]

What do you got, Rob?

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, what's yours?

[Rob Demar]

Oh, okay. So I grew up, I was a kid in the 80s and I loved a show called Knight Rider was awesome. David Hasselhoff and this black Trans Am named Kit with a red light. And that car had artificial intelligence in it. And today cars are catching up, right? You've got cars that can detect your emotions. They have karaoke mode, like, how cool is that? You can have virtual backseat drivers that are talking to you. Pet detection. You can do like a dating profile, apparently. Like, you can do like a photo shoot, like in your car. So, I mean, it's just the cars, they're getting smarter. And, you know, who wouldn't want a really smart car that can talk to you? And maybe at some point they'll even have that at the ejection seat, like. Like the Knight Rider. There you go. I love. I would love a. A talking car.

[Alena Jasper]

I will say that. Riding in a waymo over Thanksgiving, I loved it. I just love the experience. I cannot wait for all cars to just be autonomous AI driving.

[Rob Demar]

Those waymos are awesome. But do you feel like we're driving in one because they're kind of a show? Like, it's got all those spin on it and everything. They're funny.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah. It is a little embarrassing for some reason, but once you get back, check me out.

[Rob Demar]

No driver, look, no hands. Yeah.

[Alena Jasper]

Well, I was interested in looking into, like, AI and movies because it turns out AI has been used for a long time to produce some of our favorite movies. We just maybe didn't know it. So back in 2019. They remade the Lion King into a live action film. And they used AI and Deep learning to train like the animals faces to have more of a realistic look. That was cool. In 2022, in Black Wakanda Forever, Chad McBoseman had passed away. So they used AI to recreate his voice in that movie. Like such a cool thing that we wouldn't have been able to do before that. And then I know there's a lot of examples like this, but in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny in 2023, they used AI to de age Harrison Ford. So AI helped us see Harrison Ford in another Indiana Jones movie. That's a beautiful thing.

[Rob Demar]

That is. That is. And that technology's gotten so good. When they did the latest Ant man, they showed a younger version of Michelle Pfeiffer and Michael Douglas. And having watched their movies growing up just like Harrison Ford, you're like, I can't believe it totally looks like them. And that's one where, like, Mark Hamill, when they did the Star Wars Mandalorian one, I'm like, yeah, not quite, but wow, it's gotten so good now. I mean, I believe that was Michael Douglas. You know, a younger Michael Douglas.

[Seth Woodall]

I watched a breakdown last night for here, the Robertson Zemeckis, Tom Hanks movie, I think, from last year. Yeah. And there's a ton of de aging and then actually age them up in a few scenes as well. And they were doing deep fake face replacement. And the guy was talking about in the past when they've done this, they would have to build out a 3D model of the person's face. They have to scan it. They have to go in and build the pores. They have to set up these systems that show how blood works in the face. And it still doesn't look right because your brain's been staring at human faces your whole life. And so you know when something's wrong and there's something about this defect technology that speeds up the process, but also can trick the brain. It gets past that uncanny valley. So I think we'll see a lot more of this in the future.

[Alena Jasper]

Yeah, I think that'll be great. Because there's a lot of movies where they show like a younger version of someone and they have to get a different actor or actress. And it kind of takes you out of it because you start to like, everyone looks like the person. They never look good. So I think this would be better when we can just dea someone. Great. Well, thank you so much, Seth, for joining us.

[Seth Woodall]

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks, guys. Thanks for having me.

[Rob Demar]

Pizza later.

[Alena Jasper]

That's it for this episode of the Marketing Architects. We'd like to thank Taylor De Los Reyes for producing the show. You can connect with us on LinkedIn. And if you like the podcast, please leave us a review. Now go forth and build great marketing. Rob, you were gonna ask Seth about tools next. Do you still want to ask that? I know Seth just kind of listed Seth.

[Rob Demar]

There's not one podcast where I don't slightly skip a section or screw up. I can check that box. Seth, could you talk a little bit more about, you know, customization opportunities?

[Alena Jasper]

That's, like, not the question, Rob. It was about, like, specific tools. Was the question.

[Seth Woodall]

We'll just phase in AI Rob for this section.

[Alena Jasper]

I'm working on it.

[Rob Demar]

Yeah, I. I was thinking about something. Okay, got it.

[Alena Jasper]

Marketing Architect.