If ChatGPT questioned the extent of fascination for tech that millennials like me (born between the 80s – 90s) could experience in our lifetime, Sora brought back a distinct memory from my childhood where I dreamt of several “what if” scenarios in the Star Wars series as I would have wanted them to be produced. If we could go back in time, say 30 years, and tell teens that their thematic expression could be brought to life by some prompts, graphic units and thingamajig in between, I can guarantee you they would’ve had the same look I did the day Sora launched – a glint in my eye, a surreal feeling!
In the realm of marketing, the mantra “Less effort, gargantuan impact” reigns supreme. Tools like ChatGPT have helped in supporting this notion while also exemplifying AI’s prowess in democratizing creativity and making prompt engineering the newest skill to master.
Picture-perfectly named after the Japanese term for “blue skies,” Sora represents a leap forward in AI technology that’s nothing short of revolutionary. Functioning as a diffusion model akin to DALL-E, it employs a transformer encoding system similar to ChatGPT. But what truly sets Sora apart from the pack is its ability to translate words into dynamic visual masterpieces, seamlessly stitching together temporal-spatial blocks to create stunning video clips that defy imagination.
Now, let’s talk about the wizardry behind the curtain. Sora’s remarkable capabilities stem from extensive training on vast amounts of data and billions of program parameters, demanding high-performance hardware for execution. Content is trained on licensed and publicly available video content, ensuring a diverse range of inputs for training and generation. This ensures that every output is as unique and captivating as the next, setting the stage for a new era of AI-driven creativity.
Why Sora stands out?
While Sora isn’t the first AI video generator on the scene, it certainly sets a new benchmark in the field. Unlike predecessors like Pika Labs and Runaway, which churned out short 4-second clips, Sora is rewriting the playbook by cranking out videos that can stretch up to a whole minute.
But the real game-changer lies in the unparalleled clarity and realism of Sora’s creations. These videos exhibit fluid, lifelike motions and astonishing accuracy in depicting human anatomy and the physical world. It’s almost uncanny how Sora’s creations resemble the work of an entire army of skilled videographers, editors, and artists, yet they’re all the handiwork of an AI tool.
Sora’s ability to churn out such extended, high-quality videos marks a monumental leap forward in the world of AI-driven video generation. It’s not just raising the bar—it’s setting an entirely new standard for what’s possible in this field.
What’s in it for the marketers?
High quality-low costs: Sora’s ability to effortlessly churn out original, niche content opens up a world of possibilities for marketers looking to bolster the top of their sales funnels. It’s like having a top-notch video production studio at your fingertips, but without the hefty price tag. With Sora, you can streamline your video production process, ensuring consistently high-quality content while slashing your content creation budgets.
Traditionally, crafting a killer marketing campaign or storyboard has been a laborious process involving weeks, if not months, of shooting, editing, and related tasks. But not anymore. Sora flips the script on this outdated model, offering multiple iterations of high-quality imagery in a fraction of the time and cost.
Democratizing creativity: Sora, brings the power of creativity directly into the hands of the marketers. It doesn’t matter if they possess the technical knowledge of a cinematographer, editor or VFX, nor does it matter if they have access to larger-than-life sets or locales. With Sora, a marketer simply needs to input their scene requirements or product demos, and voilà! Their vision comes to life in stunning detail.
Addresses user’s attention span: With short-form video content dominating social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, grabbing and holding onto viewers’ attention is more crucial than ever.
According to a study by Social Insider, TikTok leads in engagement and content volume, with an engagement rate of 5.53%, compared to Instagram Reels’ 4.36% and YouTube Shorts’ 3.80%. TikTok users are highly engaged with short-form videos, with almost 50% of users finding videos longer than a minute to be “stressful.”
Here’s where Sora can truly shine. Its ability to create hyper-realistic videos helps instantly quench the constant thirst for good content and resonate with audiences deeply.
More personalized advertising: Addressing the generic advertising bombardment, Sora empowers marketers to stand out by delivering visually appealing and deeply relevant content on a personal level. Today, most apps personalize text-based notifications and ads, however, just think how impactful it would be if this personalization happens on a high-quality video. For instance, a food delivery app knows you usually order food in the office at a particular time. It shows you a custom AI video on deals from nearby restaurants. All of this by eliminating hefty production budgets.
Encourages experimentation: The instant and cost-free capabilities of Sora enables marketers to experiment with new formats, concepts and narratives that they feel are more impactful. The luxury of instantaneous results empowers marketers to be more creative in their strategy and not shy away from failures. A fresh approach is just a few clicks away, and every failed attempt is just a small bump on the road to success.
Hurdles along the way
While Sora undoubtedly represents a leap forward in AI-driven content creation, it’s not without its fair share of hurdles to overcome.
Accuracy problem: Despite its lifelike realism, there’s a looming concern over its potential contribution to the proliferation of deep fakes and misinformation. Additionally, Sora’s results aren’t always 100% accurate, particularly in dealing with certain elements of realism such as fingers or walking movements, sometimes defying the laws of physics. Moreover, Sora’s training on publicly available media opens a Pandora’s box of copyright and intellectual property concerns.
Need for policies and safeguards: While still in its early stages, OpenAI has acknowledged the need for rigorous testing by experts in misinformation, hateful content, and bias. They are actively developing tools to detect AI-generated video content and prevent the spread of misinformation. But ultimately, the responsibility falls on all of us—developers, marketers, and policymakers—to ensure that Sora and similar tools are employed responsibly and ethically.
In light of these challenges, there’s a pressing need for comprehensive safeguards, legal frameworks, and ethical guidelines governing the use of generative video technology. It’s imperative to ensure that Sora and similar tools are employed responsibly and ethically to mitigate potential risks and uphold societal trust in AI-driven content generation.
As AI tools like Sora continue to evolve and redefine the landscape of content creation, one thing is clear: the future of marketing has never looked more promising. With Sora leading the way and leveraging AI to its full potential, marketers have the opportunity to unleash their creativity and captivate audiences like never before.
( Sidharth Pisharoti, Chief Revenue Officer, CleverTap)
