TikTok introduces AI prompt for instant Photo-to-Video transformation

Now you can easily transform your static pictures into animated videos with TikTok AI Alive.

Illustration: TechBird

Ever wish your still photos could tell a more dynamic story on TikTok? Well, get ready! The immensely popular short-form video platform has recently unveiled an innovative "AI Alive" feature, allowing you to effortlessly transform static photos into engaging TikTok Stories videos. This exciting new capability is currently being offered to users worldwide.

Today, the undisputed giant of short-form video, TikTok, has introduced a groundbreaking feature dubbed "AI Alive." This clever tool empowers you to easily convert your static photographs into captivating videos specifically for your Stories. When you access this feature, you'll encounter a prompt that guides the video generation process. Based on your instructions, the AI will generate a short video ready to be shared directly with your story. As TikTok itself puts it in its blog, "With AI Alive, creators can now easily animate their photos and tell richer, more visually engaging stories for their communities." This feature aligns with similar innovative offerings from AI powerhouses like Gemini and Adobe.

TikTok even shared a sneak peek, illustrating how the "AI Alive" feature works and the kind of video it can generate. In a shared example, an account showcased a picture of a dog with a cat's paw playfully covering its eyes. They then utilized the new "AI Alive" feature, entering the simple prompt: "Make this photo come alive." The subsequent frame revealed the transformed video. Once generated, an information icon appears, stating, "Your photo has come to life." You can easily view this newly created video within your For You or Following feeds.

Image: TikTok

For all you TikTok enthusiasts, accessing this fantastic feature is straightforward. It's integrated directly into the TikTok Story camera. Simply tap the "+" icon to add a Story, then upload a single photograph. Once your image is uploaded, a new "AI Alive" icon will appear in the top right corner of your toolbar. Clicking this icon will bring up the AI prompt, where you can describe the animation or changes you'd like to see, and within moments, a short video will be generated.

Prioritizing user safety and adherence to its policies, TikTok has implemented measures to review content generated with "AI Alive." The platform states that "moderation technology reviews the uploaded photo and written AI generation prompt as well as the AI Alive video before it's shown to the creator." This review process occurs during video generation, and an additional check is initiated when a creator prepares to publish the video to their Story. Staying in line with industry best practices, TikTok will also embed C2PA metadata and apply a transparency AI label to content generated using this feature.