AI Video's BIG Leap

Welcome back to The Signal, a weekly letter where I share stories, trends, strategies and insights to help you level up as a creator and win on the internet.

Today’s topics:

• AI video’s huge leap

• AI agents as the future

• Last minute holiday gift ideas

AI Video’s Huge Leap

With the launch of OpenAI’s Sora, AI video has been one of the major stories in the world of tech – and in the world of creators.

The thing is. Sora was a disappointment. It’s expensive - it’s slow, and a bit of a crapshoot to get something usable.

Sora is not currently a go-to AI video tool for me. Here’s what I recommend, and for what specific use-cases:

Two Chinese models, Kling and Hailuo are my favorite tools right now for text-to-video and image-to-video.

I think they have the best object permanence I’ve seen, and Kling has a motion brush tool that is very useful for getting the exact movement you want. I made a video covering it here.

Viggle

Viggle’s latest 3.0 update is really impressive. You can replace multiple characters in a video by uploading videos of yourself, your friends, etc.

This is great for culture-driven b-roll to help tell a story in your content, or meme creation – if you’ve always wanted to replace a character in your favorite meme with someone else, here’s your chance.

Pika

Pika Labs just dropped their 2.0 updated, and it’s very novel and creative. I made a video about it here.

They launched something called “ingredients.”

Basically, you upload images of people or objects and then describe a scene that you want to see with them in it.

Let’s Talk About AI Agents

AI agents are the talk of the tech world. All of big tech is racing to build them. Both Andreessen Horowitz and Y Combinator have them at the top of their wish list.

Salesforce just brought me out to Las Vegas to test their big bet in this space, Agentforce.

But to best describe the power of AI agents, let’s take a look at Google’s new Gemini 2.0.

I recently made a video covering their live AI feature that went viral on all platforms. And for good reason. It’s incredible.

You can share your screen with Gemini, and ask it real-time questions about what you’re looking at. Think of this as a superhuman personal tutor.

We are headed towards a future in which everyone has their very own Jarvis. Actually - an army of several Jarvii (I’ve decided that’s plural for Jarvis)

Manychat

I recently did a brand deal with Manychat.

The deal did not include this newsletter, but I am sharing it because it is genuinely a game-changer for anyone who uses Instagram to grow their business.

You will be amazed at how much your conversions increase by using DM automation.

You can use the code ROBERTONICKSON to get a month of Manychat PRO for free, so you can try it.

Very Last Minute Gift-Ideas

For those of you who need last-minute gift ideas for the holidays, here are 5 things that I LOVE for the creator or tech-lover in your life.

Under $200

Anker MagGo Power Bank - Highly recommend, especially if you have an iPhone. I don’t travel without this. I keep a charged one in my bag at all times.

$200-400

Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses - These are legitimately one of the products of the year. First off, they are the stylish glasses everyone knows and loves – but for ~$100 more, you get a multi-modal AI assistant, hands-free audio and great on-demand POV footage. Can’t beat it.

BenQ Screen Bar - Maybe the best $200 I’ve spent this year. If you’re looking for a gift for someone who spends a lot of time on their computer, their eyes will thank you for this. It’s stylish too.

Over $400

The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is really as good as advertised. If you know someone interested in getting into content creation - especially vlogging - look no further.

The Mac Mini - One of, if not the best bang-for-your-buck tech items on the market right now.

Roberto Nickson

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