Meta Unveils AI Tech for Advertisers That Transforms a Still Image Into a Video

In a move that is lowering the creative barrier, Meta is giving advertisers the ability to make a moving image from a still one with new AI tools.

It means that Facebook and Instagram users might start seeing AI-enhanced ads in their feeds thanks to these features Meta is providing to companies.

As per The Verge, Meta gave the example of a generic ad shot for a strawberry jam brand. It has strawberries dotted around the jar which start floating around thanks to AI.

A number of AI tools have come out recently that allow people to animate still photos. Recently, AI video platform Pika unveiled its 1.5 model which allows users to upload a photo and from there they can choose different animations like exploding, squishing, crusihing, and inflating a subject.

As well as bringing things to life, Meta is also offering an outpainting feature that expands on an image using AI to generate “unseen pixels in each video frame”. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is starting to roll out these features now and plans to make them more widely available early next year.

“Meta needs to continue to make investments in its platforms, it cannot rest on its laurels and I’m personally proud of Meta for making advancements in AI and continuing to lower the barrier to entry for advertisers,” Rachel Tipograph, CEO of MikMak, tells Bloomberg Technology.

Meta already has existing AI tools for advertisers; it gives companies image and text generators to create ads and video is the natural progression.

Recently, PetaPixel reported that AI images of users may start appearing in people’s Facebook and Instagram feeds. The feature is an expansion of Meta’s “Imagine Me” features which allow users to create AI selfies based on their photos. Users might get an “Imagined for You” image in their feed which they can either quickly share or generate a new picture.

Instagram’s parent company is apparently all-in on AI with Meta also previewing its AI video generator called Movie Gen by showing off some impressive-looking examples.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.