AI video requires more manual work than the tools promise
AI video tools promise automation, but in practice they require a lot of manual work. A Habr author shared the experience: instead of a couple of clicks, it tur
Popular AI-based video creation tools paint a rosy picture: forget about expensive video designers and multi-month projects, a subscription + a few commands — and content is ready. But an experienced developer, returning to Habr after 10 years of silence, shared the harsh truth.
What AI video tools promise
A multitude of services have emerged on the market that take on complex work: they generate scenes from prompts, apply effects, synchronize with audio, and even select music. The cost is modest — typically a subscription from $10-30 per month. The idea is attractive: instead of hiring a specialist and working in complex editors like DaVinci Resolve, you can focus on the idea, and the technology will do the rest.
Reality turned out to be different
Step by step, it became clear that AI tools are not a magic wand, but rather an assistant that requires constant supervision. Every frame needs to be checked, many frames need to be redone, effects need to be edited. The author encountered these problems:
- Generated scenes require several passes to achieve the desired result
- Synchronization with audio often breaks down
- Transitions between frames look unnatural
- Color correction and processing — still manual work
- The final result still needs to be reviewed in full and problem areas fixed
Why this happens
Intelligence in AI — is still conditional. Models generate well in a vacuum, but a project is like a living organism: parts must work together, have a unified style, match the script. What AI generated separately doesn't come together into a single flow without additional work. Plus, each tool has its own limitations: one generates people well but struggles with hands; another excels at landscapes but gets lost in architecture.
What this means
AI video tools are useful, but not as a replacement for creativity and technical mastery, but as an accelerator for routine work. If you can afford a video designer — it's still faster than tinkering with AI and editing yourself. If you're a developer with an eye for framing — AI can help, but the bulk of the work still falls on you.