Google’s new AI video generator is more HR than Hollywood

For most of us, creating documents, spreadsheets, and slideshows is an inevitable part of working life in 2024. But creating a movie is not. This is something Google wants to change. On Tuesday, the company launched Google Vids, a video creation app for work that it says harnesses the power of artificial intelligence to make everyone a “great storyteller.”

Vids uses Google’s latest AI model, Gemini, to quickly create videos suitable for the workplace. Enter the prompt, enter some files, images and videos, then sit back and relax as Vids generates the complete storyboard, script, music and voiceover. “As a storytelling medium, video has become ubiquitous for its immediacy and ability to ‘cut through the noise,’ but it can be daunting to know where to start,” said Aparna Pappu, a Google vice president, in a blog post announcing the Apps. “Vids is your video, writing, production and editing assistant, all in one.”

In a promotional video, Google used Vids to create a video that recaps highlights from the Cloud Next conference in Las Vegas, the annual event where Google showcases the app. Based on a simple prompt telling it to create a retrospective video and attach a document with complete information about the event, Vids will produce an editable narrative outline. It then lets the user select a video template—you can choose between a research proposal, new employee introduction, team milestone, quarterly business update, and more—and then does some processing before spitting out a first draft of the video, complete with storyboards, stock media , music, transitions and animations. It even generates scripts and voiceovers, although you can record your own as well. You can also manually select photos from Google Drive or Google Photos to seamlessly place them into your movie.

It all looks pretty, but it’s important to remember what Vids isn’t: It’s a replacement for AI-powered video generation tools, like OpenAI’s upcoming Sora or Runway’s Gen-2, that can generate text based on text prompts. Create a movie from scratch. instead. Google Vids uses artificial intelligence to understand your prompts, generate scripts and voiceovers, and stitch together stock images, footage, music, transitions, and animations to effectively create an enhanced slideshow. Because Vids is part of Google Workspace, you can collaborate instantly just like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides.

Who asked for this? My guess would be HR and chiefs of staff, who are often required to create onboarding videos for new hires, announce company milestones, or create training materials for their teams.However, if Google chooses to offer Vids outside of Workspace (which is typically used by businesses), I can also see people using it outside of work, such as easily creating videos for birthday parties or vacations using their own photos and videos when available. Widely

The film will be available in June and is coming to Workspace Labs first, which means you’ll need to opt in to test it. It’s unclear when it will become more widely available.