How AI Video Generation Is Changing Creativity
I’ve been pretty vocal about the negative aspects of AI and its impact on creativity. But in all honesty, I’m torn. Which is actually why I created my new YouTube channel, The Torn Creative.
On one hand, I’ve always been a deeply creative person - storytelling, filmmaking, voiceover- they’ve always been part of my DNA. Even when I wasn’t working in a creative field professionally, I needed an outlet. Years ago, I started a faceless YouTube channel as a way to tell stories and develop my voice-over and narrative skills. To my surprise, it took off - it’s now sitting at over a hundred thousand subscribers - but after years of grinding and eventual burnout; I found myself stuck.
I wanted to create more, but I couldn’t keep up with the demand for new scripts, visuals, and editing while juggling a full-time job. That’s when I started exploring AI creative tools.
The Early Tools That Sparked Curiosity
Even before ChatGPT, there were some expensive AI writing tools. I remember being fascinated by their potential - not as replacements, but as collaborators. Writing was the hardest part of my process. I could record, narrate, and edit with passion, but developing fresh scripts fast enough? That was the bottleneck I was facing.
AI became a kind of creative bridge. It allowed me to stay consistent, to keep my storytelling alive. But it wasn’t a simple “press a button and get a masterpiece” situation - I would argue that it still isn’t. Anyone who uses these tools knows they need heavy editing and human influence. AI tools are only now getting to know and understand your voice, your rhythm, or your tone - the things that make you unique.
The human touch still matters. It’s what makes a story yours.
The Battle Between Creativity and the Algorithm
YouTube can be an unforgiving place for storytellers. My channel was demonetized twice for narrating stories I had permission to use, but simply because they weren’t deemed “transformative enough” from YouTube’s fair usage standpoint. It was disheartening, especially when narration and storytelling itself is, I believe, an art form.
Voice acting, pacing, emotional timing - these things matter. But to algorithms, that’s another story.
AI tools gave me a way to adapt and survive. I started rewriting those same stories in the third person, transforming them through my lens. And that process - human rewriting, AI scaffolding - became a collaboration that allowed me to stay creative even within the demands of a consistent YouTube release schedule.
The Visual Challenge: From Faceless to Cinematic
Then came the next issue: visuals.
In the early days of YouTube storytelling, faceless narration channels were huge. But now, audiences, as well as YouTube, expect more. They want visuals, atmosphere, cinematics.
AI video and image generation suddenly filled that gap for creators like me who didn’t have the budget for film crews or elaborate sets. It wasn’t about replacing the human element - it was about augmenting it.
However, when I started layering AI-generated imagery into my projects, the response was… mixed. Some viewers were excited by the new visuals. Others instantly unsubscribed, saying they’d never support a channel using “AI content.”
And honestly? I get it. But it’s also missing the point.
What Makes Art “Human”
There’s this growing misconception that using AI means your work isn’t real, or that it’s somehow less authentic. But to me, authenticity doesn’t come from the tools we use to create - it comes from the intention.
When someone uses AI to mass-produce shallow, repetitive content just for clicks, that’s not creativity - that’s automation. But when an artist uses AI to fill in the gaps they can’t afford to fill otherwise, to tell stories that might never exist without it - that’s something different.
AI isn’t stealing creativity. It’s expanding it.
The right way to use AI
At the private acting school where I teach, we’ve started experimenting with AI visuals to enhance student projects. Recently we’ve been working on a web series that is not too dissimilar to the old storytelling, monster of the week style shows like “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”
The students tell the stories. They learn screen presence. But instead of being held back by the need for a big budget for sets or effects, we use AI imagery to build the world around them. The students still act, still perform - but now they can see themselves inside cinematic worlds that would have been otherwise impossible to afford before.
And that is what I believe is the right way to use AI: as a collaborator, and not a replacement.
The Torn Reality
So yes, I am torn. I see the dangers - creative dilution, corporate misuse, job loss - but I also see the potential.
AI can make art more accessible. It can give under-funded creators, independent filmmakers, and small studios a fighting chance to compete with those who have millions to spend.
Rejecting AI outright ignores the reality that creativity has always evolved alongside technology. The camera didn’t kill painting. The synthesizer didn’t destroy music. And AI won’t erase art - not if we use it with intention, care, and humanity in mind.
Creation Over Fear
If you’ve been skeptical of AI, I get it. But before you write off a creator using these tools, take a moment. Ask: Are they using AI to completely replace creativity? Or to amplify it?
I’m still figuring where I stand. But I know this: the future of creativity won’t belong to those who resist change. It will belong to those who shape it with heart.
