The 8 AI Tools Creators Should Actually Try

Whether you’re a YouTuber, writer, artist or musician, the conversation surrounding AI in creative industries seems to have gone from 0-100 in a matter of months… 

With industry heavyweights like Microsoft investing heavily in these new technologies, it’s looking like AI might be here to stay. But what is AI, and, as a creator, which AI tools are worth your time?

At Lickd, we’ve compiled a list of some of the most exciting AI tools for creators to try, including AI tools for video editing, audio editing, and writing. Discover everything you need to know about AI for creativity, to help you get ahead of the curve and your competition. 

What is AI? 

First things first, what actually is AI? 

By definition, artificial intelligence is a branch of computer science that works to build smart machines that are capable of performing tasks that would ordinarily require a human’s level of intellect. It sees highly complex computer systems being engineered and programmed with algorithms to learn continuously from data until they are able to ‘think’ and make decisions without explicit instructions from a human programmer… AI can be used for things like image recognition, language translation, and even driving cars, and its introduction into increasingly mainstream culture has triggered something of a paradigm shift in how we all understand the limits of what’s possible.

Can AI be creative?

Even though AI has been shaping the scientific community for decades, it has endured much criticism from those of us working in a creative industry. Creatives have long refuted that AI would be capable of adding value to things like music, art, poetry, and film…basically anything involving emotion, 

But, with AI technologies having come on leaps and bounds in recent years, we’re now at a point where some tools are now able to use algorithms and computer programs to assist or augment the creative process. This can include using AI to generate new ideas, suggest design elements, or automate certain aspects of the creative process. 

For example, AI can be used to generate music, art, or video content, or to help with tasks like title creation, video editing, and sound design. 

This is called ‘generative AI’.  

How will smarter AI change creativity?

There are various ways that smarter AI tools may help change creativity, including:

1. Creating more efficient processes: AI can help automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, allowing creators to focus on the more creative aspects of their work. For example, if you have multiple YouTube video descriptions to write and are struggling for inspiration, AI can help formulate these. This could result in faster and more efficient creative processes, allowing you to focus on big ideas and actually film content.
2. Improved accuracy: AI can help creatives make more accurate decisions by providing data-driven insights and analysis. In the world of creative marketing, this could result in more effective campaigns and better-targeted content.
3. Increased accessibility: AI can make creative tools more accessible to people who may not have had access to them before. For example, AI can help automate certain design tasks, allowing people with limited design experience to create professional-looking content.
4. New creative possibilities: Smarter AI can help creatives push the boundaries of what is possible by suggesting new ideas and techniques. This could lead to new and innovative creations.

As a creator, what AI tools should I try?

Being the only licensed provider of chart-topping music for YouTube videos, Lickd is passionate about helping creatives reach their full potential. 

Whether you’re genuinely interested in how AI can be incorporated into your creative process, or you’re not convinced but curious about its potential, we’ve saved you some time by compiling a list of some of the best AI tools for content creators to try.

1. Runway ML

Runway is an AI programme that can help speed up video editing tasks. It offers several tools for generating and manipulating video content, powered by AI. These include object detection, motion tracking, green screen/background removal, and video styling/filtering. 

These tools can be used to create artistic visual effects, modify video content, or even generate entirely new video content. 

Runway Pricing

Starter: Free

Pro: $12 per month

Team: $28 per month

Enterprise: Contact

2. DreamStudio 

This AI-powered app is an artwork generation tool, creating impressive artworks from just a vague text prompt. If you often hit a creative block when it comes to producing striking, click-worthy thumbnails, or are looking to jazz up your end-screen background, this could be the tool for you!

It differs from its main competitor (OpenAI’s DALL-E) as it offers various customization options, allowing generative AI and human guidance to create these pieces of work. 

DreamStudio Pricing Model

DreamStudio works with a credits system. The higher the resolution of the image created, the more credits it’ll cost.

As a rough guide, it costs £1/$1.18 for every 100 generation credits.

 

3. Adobe Podcast – Speech Enhancer

Adobe has released a free (at the time of writing) AI-powered speech editing tool. According to Adobe, this enhancement feature “makes voice recordings sound as if they were recorded in a professional studio”.

It works to filter out background noise, remove echos, mic pops, accidental tapping, plosive sounds and whistling sibilance, leaving you with professional-sounding audio. This tool could save you some real cash, not needing to splash out on expensive microphones or studio space. 

If you want to learn more about this particular tool, PiXimperfect has made a great in-depth video about it:

  

Adobe Speech Enhancer Pricing

At the time of writing, this is a free online tool. You can access the AI-powered speech enhancer through the Adobe Podcast website, which is free to join.

4. Synthesia 

Synthesia can essentially allow you to carry out the entire video creation process from scratch.

From storyboarding through to ultra-realistic avatar narrators, Synthesia helps you easily (and quickly) create a full range of video content, including How-Tos, educational, demos and marketing videos.

Synthesia Pricing

Personal: $30 per month.

They also do custom plans for larger companies on request. 

5. Raw Shorts

Looking for an AI-powered animation tool? Raw Shorts converts text into animated videos that can be used for marketing purposes, or creative clips within a demonstration video.

The Raw Shorts AI deeply analyzes your script to ensure your generated animation fits the context and fits the purpose.

Raw Shorts Pricing

Essential: $20 per month

Business: $30 per month

Raw Shorts also offers a free trial of a stripped-back version of the tool.

6. Murf.AI

Murf.AI is a great AI tool for creating natural-sounding artificial voiceovers. This text-to-speech generator uses a bank of 115 unique voices and offers voiceover creation in 15 languages – perfect for content creators with international viewers or for anyone seeking to make their videos accessible (and enjoyable!) for far larger audiences. 

As well as providing intonation and tone, Murf.AI can also proofread your scripts for you, ensuring your voiceovers are clear, concise, and fuss-free!

Murf.AI Pricing

Basic – $19 per month

Pro – $26 per month

Enterprise – $59 per month

There is also an offer of a free trial period, but no downloads are permitted. It’s more of a try-before-you-buy setup. 

7. Lumen5 

Another AI tool for video editing, Lumen5 is another popular choice among creators. One of the most impressive features that Lumen5 has to offer is its ability to repurpose blog posts and generate videos from them – perfect for those who have a blog and a YouTube channel.

It’s been described as easy to use as Microsoft Powerpoint, so great to try even if you’re a beginner. 

Lumen5 Pricing

Community (casual video makers): Free

Basic: $19 per month

Starter: $59 per month

Professional: $149 per month

Enterprise: Custom

8. ChatGPT

Finally, we have OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which you may have already heard of as it’s one of the most talked about tools out there at present. 

 

 

This AI tool is a natural language processor that’s styled like a chatbot. People are using ChatGPT for many functions, from answering simple questions to generating written text. It can be used for composing emails through to summarizing historical events, depending on the prompt you provide.  

For creatives, whether you’re looking for a short snappy YouTube description, or you need to make technical sections of text more digestible for your audience, the chatbot-style interface generates the text you need.

ChatGPT Pricing

Standard: Free (it is thought that this won’t be free forever, so use it while you can!)

Plus: $20 per month

Pro: $42 per month

Final thoughts

What are the benefits of using AI for content creation?

1. Creates more efficient processes
2. Speeds up/automates laborious tasks
3. Inspires new ideas
4. Introduces new creative possibilities
5. Helps elevate your own creativity

Are there any disadvantages of using AI for content creation?

Despite the benefits of utilizing creative AI tools sparingly, there are a number of risks should you end up relying on them too heavily. 

• Existing programme updates – Not strictly a disadvantage of using AI tools, but it’s predicted that the already hugely popular editing software such as Adobe and Resolve will begin rolling out these features into their own offering. After all, as a creative, if you can continue using the software you’re already familiar with, why would you drastically change your production flow? 
• Fake news – It’s true that we’ve been fighting the battle on fake news for years, but AI is a powerful tool that could theoretically be used to create false yet realistic ‘evidence’, be that in the form of video, audio or imagery, to back up these fake news stories. 
• Not 100% reliable – While the time-saving benefits of AI are extremely appealing, many tools are not watertight just yet. Despite the speed, AI’s output may not be to the overall quality that a human creative could achieve. For example, AI might have generated 20 new YouTube descriptions, but they may all need editing. 
• Legal ownership disputes – Some argue that using AI-generated media for commercial purposes may leave you open to an ownership dispute. The debate is that if AI is trained on publicly available online art, is it right for companies to use these AI creations for commercial use without crediting the original artist? 

Will AI replace human creativity?

In short – no. 

While AI can offer powerful tools for creatives (allowing them to work faster, more efficiently, and with greater precision), AI should really be seen as a complementary tool, rather than a replacement for human creativity and intuition. 

Ultimately, the creative process will still be driven by human vision and interpretation.

As a creator, choose Lickd as your licensed music provider

If you’re trying AI to boost the quality of your videos and streamline the post-production processes, you don’t want music choices to let the side down.

Whether you decide to try creative AI tools out or not, you can always rely on Lickd to provide you with licensed music to use within your videos. From chart-topping tracks to classic tunes you couldn’t live without, check out our full range of mainstream and royalty-free music for videos today.

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