TikTok introduces AI Alive to turn photos into animated videos

TikTok is making it a lot easier for its creators to use AI.

TikTok AI Alive, a feature the app launched on Tuesday, helps users turn static photos into “captivating, short-form videos enhanced with movement, atmospheric and creative effects” when they use the TikTok Story Camera.

“We all know a photo can say a thousand words, and TikTok aims to take this new form of visual storytelling even further,” TikTok said in a blog post. “With AI Alive, creators can now easily animate their photos and tell richer, more visually engaging stories for their communities.”

How to use AI Alive on TikTok

To use the tool, users must first navigate to the Story Camera by tapping the blue plus sign on their profile image at the top left of the Inbox page and in the center of their profile.

Turn “Alive” on by clicking the button on the top right of your screen, and then choose a single photo and type in how you want the photo to change. You can also choose a photo first, and then click the AI Alive icon on the right sidebar and type in how you want the photo to change.

For instance, if it’s a static photo of yourself, you can prompt AI Alive to make your photo dance, wink, or lean in. The tool will count down how long it will take for the effect to work, and once you’re done waiting, you have an AI version of your photo.

It looks pretty darn realistic for AI, and might be difficult for people to catch. TikTok said in its blog post that “moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it’s shown to the creator.”

“A final safety check happens once a creator decides to post to their Story,” TikTok’s blog post reads. “Just like other content, people can report videos they think may break our rules. In addition, AI Alive stories will have an AI-generated label to bring transparency to how the content was created, and have C2PA metadata embedded — a kind of technology that helps others identify that it’s AI-generated, even if it’s downloaded and shared off platform.”

While this is one of the first in-app image-to-video generators using AI, this isn’t the first time TikTok — or any social media platform, for that matter — has introduced AI. You can use AI on Instagram and Snapchat to turn text into images, and Snapchat says it’s working on what sounds like a similar AI tool to generate videos from images.

All the while, TikTok is allegedly working on a feature that would allow users to send photos and voice messages via direct messages, according to The Information. Most new features like this are aimed at keeping users on a platform for longer and increasing engagement. Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook already allow users to share photos over DM, but TikTok users can only share videos, stickers, and text over DM, and they have to be over 16 years old.