Letting working filmmakers design the AI tools instead of engineers is either Google’s smartest creative move this year or a clever way to make AI video feel less like a threat to the people who make a living doing this by hand. I have recently been leaning more into how I can use AI (specifically Claude) to reduce my video workload while simultaneously increasing my output. I have been experimenting with a few things that show promise.
However, what Google has released with the Tools within Google Flow may change the game dramatically. And it also comes back to something that I have been saying for over a year. As the film industry has been scared and suffering because of AI’s influx, many people are up in arms. However, I view it differently. I have absolutely no knowledge of cinematography or film and video making. A video creative, however, can articulate in a detailed prompt or skill exactly what they see in their mind’s eye. I can never do this. I can only use a tool (like Google Flow) to attempt to capture a fraction of this.
My wife and I know lots of people “in the industry,” and I have been saying for a while that people, if they can, need to pivot and leverage these skills they have mastered already in their field and bring them to the AI space in order to extend their careers or open new doors. I wish I had that knowledge. I don’t.