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Welcome back to the AI For Humans newsletter!

So I went semi-viral on the Sora app this week but it wasn’t for an original creation (you can argue how original any Sora post is somewhere else).

It was for a ‘remix’.

When this video remix where I chose to put a giant Queen Elizabeth in a block of ice (sorry) ended up getting over 1600 likes, I started to think a lot more about the power of this tool within Sora and the implications for content creation at large.

What Exactly Is a Sora Remix?

A remix on Sora is where you take someone else’s video and prompt the system to change one aspect of the original to create something new but directly connected.

It sometimes means changing the subject of a video or the words the characters say or the setting. Basically, the remix-er adds a twist on the original video.

But what makes it really interesting is that it gives social video an entirely separate axis to explore. I mean this quite literally. Instead of swiping up, you can choose to swipe right to explore the remixes of the video you land on.

This video is a good example. The original was incredibly creative and weird (two fencers using swordfish instead of foils) but if you swipe right you’ll see a number of variations like fencing with fences, fencing with Dyson vaccums, and even swordfish fencing with fences.

This means you can go deeper into one specific idea and, as you swipe through a series of remixes, you start to feel the beginning of a mini-universe being formed.

Suddenly, there are a TON of stories to tell from a single starting point.

And, even better, you can easily add your own piece of lore.

When Creation Becomes Co-Creation…

YouTube, Tiktok & Reels are mostly one-way consumption & creation video tools.

To consume, you watch a video and maybe follow the creator and then swipe or click onto the next one.

To create a video, you record a video and upload it and hope someone will watch it.

Tiktok has a few tools designed to get the user to reply via video (stitch lets you use the first few seconds of someone else’s video for example) but generally this one-way path has become the accepted way social video works.

Sora completely changes this. Every video becomes a two-way street.

Actually, it’s more like a multi-way street that can go in any direction you want.

The Remix feature lets you, the user, jump off of someone else’s brilliant idea and immediately add your own spin.

You don’t have to find the right lighting or your microphone or a series of pre-made images, you just remix that video you found funny and now you’re part of the story.

Even better, other people can see and engage on your remixed video and follow you as a creator as well.

If you read through the presentation I dropped in here a few weeks ago, you might’ve seen the following slide:

Sora’s remix feature is not just a content tool… it’s a game.

It’s an entirely new interactive way to engage with the media you consume and then co-create your own.

So Why Does That Matter?

We’ve been trained for decades that internet content would be supplied by a very small number of creators and that the vast majority of people would just lean back and consume.

Even in the YouTube era, which opened the door for the entire Creator economy to blossom, there were still a fairly limited number of humans willing to put themselves in front of the camera and ask people to ‘click that subscribe button’.

Tools like Sora’s remix feature are starting to shift that balance significantly.

Because AI video is so much easier to create than traditional video, the act of creation is much easier as well. And when you, the user, create something that not only tickles you but tickles others, you start wanting to create more.

To me, this is 100% a great thing for humanity.

Of course, not all of this will be good. In fact, the vast majority of it might be bad. But, dear reader, I’m here to tell you that a lot of it is already kind of good.

I suggest you spend some time with Sora this week and instead of just swiping up, find a video you enjoy that has a fair number of remixes and swipe right.

You might just lose yourself in this weird 1980s newsroom and then add your own dumb thing for them to do or say. And before you know it, you’ve written their backstories in your head and you’re off and running.

See you next week!

- Gavin

In this week’s AI For Humans: The data is in. AIs are taking our jobs. What’s next?👇

We 💛 This: Grok Imagine Video… Is Good Now?

I saw a tweet over the weekend mentioning that Grok Imagine video had upgraded and I decided to give it a quick shot.

Um, is Grok one of the best video models now?

I have to admit that I’d mostly written off Grok Imagine after we tried it on the show a few weeks ago but I am impressed. It’s not great with sound yet (stick with VEO3 or Sora 2 for that) but it’s worth exploring.

Some other interesting examples I saw:

• A fun Japanese RPG prompt

• Excellent spaceship thrusting through a futuristic city

• Animated dinosaur sketeton in a museum

• Beautiful shot of a lighthouse in a storm

You can use Grok Imagine directly from the Grok website or within the X app as well (just make sure you’ve updated it).

Of course, leave it to Grok’s CEO (you know who) to make it weird.