Among the key questions shaping the AI industry is how long Meta will keep releasing open weights models for. Gen3 (GPT-5 class)? Gen4 (GPT-6 class)? At some point the logic they have been using might shift in the face of rising risks, costs & opportunities for advantage.
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) October 4, 2024
Meta has unveiled Movie Gen, a new AI-powered video generator that can create short videos from text prompts and photos. The tool can produce videos up to 16 seconds long, complete with AI-generated audio that includes ambient noise, sound effects, and background music matching the visuals. Movie Gen allows users to generate custom videos or transform existing ones by altering the style, transitions, or content.
The paper evaluating the human preference rate for Meta’s new video generator versus the major competitors aligns with my experiences on the three models you can use (Luma, Runway, Kling).
Kling 1.5, from China, is really good (and apparently on par with Meta’s unreleased model) pic.twitter.com/A49EuKBKKD
— Ethan Mollick (@emollick) October 4, 2024
Examples shared by Meta showcase the tool’s capabilities, such as enhancing a still headshot to show the person in a different setting or editing an illustrated runner to hold props or change the background. Despite its impressive features, Movie Gen is not yet ready for public release. Chris Cox, Meta’s chief product officer, cited current costs and long generation times as reasons for the delay.
Additionally, AI-generated content, particularly videos, raises significant concerns about ownership and potential misuse.
More examples of what Meta Movie Gen can do across video generation, precise video editing, personalized video generation and audio generation. pic.twitter.com/Dz65QGNgaJ
— AI at Meta (@AIatMeta) October 4, 2024
Meta unveils AI video generator
Meta has disclosed that Movie Gen was trained on a combination of licensed and publicly available datasets, but specific details were not provided.
The rise of AI in content creation has sparked concerns among creatives, including filmmakers, photographers, artists, writers, and actors, regarding the impact on their livelihoods. These concerns have been central to recent strikes by entertainment industry unions. Meta’s announcement comes amidst a growing trend of major tech companies and startups developing similar AI tools, pushing the boundaries of content generation.
The company is working directly with the entertainment community and content creators on using Movie Gen and plans to incorporate it into its own products sometime next year. As AI technology advances, the possibilities for creating realistic and creative video content continue to expand, promising exciting opportunities for both everyday users and professionals. However, Meta remains aware of the ethical concerns surrounding AI-generated content and is working to address them before considering a public release of Movie Gen.
