The Rise Of AI Baby Videos And Your Creation Guide

The internet has a new obsession: AI baby videos. You might have noticed your TikTok For You Page, Facebook feed, or Instagram stories increasingly populated with these short, often unsettlingly cute, clips. If so, you're definitely not alone in witnessing this viral trend.

These AI-generated videos transform well-known personalities into cherubic, baby-faced versions of themselves. Imagine French President Emmanuel Macron as a toddler, the cast of Friends reimagined as infants (as seen in some popular TikToks), or even Vin Diesel from Fast & Furious, Michael Jackson in "Thriller," and Judge Judy as babies.

Do AI babies make you smile... or wince? Credit: Zooey Liao/Mashable

So, what's the verdict on these videos: are they cute, creepy, or just plain cringe? Beauty, or in this case, cringe, is in the eye of the beholder. Your reaction likely depends on your general feelings towards babies and artificial intelligence. One thing is certain: cute and creepy aren't mutually exclusive. Regardless of your stance, these viral videos are another testament to the relentless output of the "AI slop machine."

"Slop" is a term used to describe low-quality, AI-generated images and videos, which, surprisingly often, manage to go viral. It's possible some people sharing these clips aren't even aware they're AI-generated, though one would hope it's obvious when encountering a video of a baby Ice Cube (or should we say Lil' Ice Cube?) rapping "It Was a Good Day."

Where Are These AI Baby Videos Coming From and How Are They Made

The origin of these videos is twofold. Some are undoubtedly created by genuine fans and AI enthusiasts experimenting with new tools. Others are churned out by content farms, entities dedicated to feeding social media algorithms with a constant stream of memes, AI content, and repurposed videos.

This particular trend kicked off a couple of weeks ago. It began with AI enthusiasts creating videos of talking babies featured on podcasts. From there, it evolved into the current wave of AI videos depicting celebrities as babies, a trend that has, as noted, even reached discussions surrounding world leaders.

Most creators are using a combination of different AI tools to produce these baby videos, and you can find numerous tutorials on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. But the burning question for many is: Can I create these AI baby videos for free, and without being a tech expert? The short answer is: not really.

Trying Out Free AI Tools An Experiment

An attempt was made to create an AI video using TikTok's new free AI Alive tool, which is designed to turn static images into animated videos. The results, to put it mildly, were not impressive.

Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

Credit: Timothy Beck Werth / Mashable

Creating AI Baby Videos The Process And Costs

To create an AI baby video from scratch that aligns with the viral examples, you'll likely need paid subscriptions to several popular AI tools. While some steps might be achievable with free versions, generating the final video usually requires a paid plan. Here's a general workflow:

1. Generate the Baby Image: Upload a picture of your subject to an AI image generator like ChatGPT (using its image capabilities) or a similar tool. Use a prompt such as: "Create a baby photo based on this image."
2. Write a Script: Develop a short script for your baby character to say.
3. Create Audio: Use a text-to-speech tool like ElevenLabs, or an alternative, to generate an audio file of your script in a "baby" voice (or as close as you can get).
4. Generate the Video: Employ an AI video generation tool like Hedra or Dreamina. You'll typically upload your baby image and the audio file to create the animated video.

Of course, this process has costs beyond just subscription fees. There's also an environmental consideration. According to a recent report highlighted by MIT Technology Review, generating a single 5-second AI video consumes the energy equivalent of running a microwave for a full hour.

Which AI Video Tool Should You Use

When it comes to selecting an AI video tool, options vary. Google's newly released Veo 3 video generator is considered one of the most advanced, but access comes at a steep price of $250 a month as part of Google's AI Ultra Subscription plan. While it can create fairly realistic baby videos, that might not be the quirky, meme-like style many are aiming for with this trend.

For the specific AI baby video trend, many creators seem to be using Hedra. As Tech Crunch reported, Hedra recently secured $32 million in funding, and its Character-3 model is reportedly powering a significant number of these viral AI baby clips.