TikTok Now Brings Photos to Life: Artificial Intelligence Is Increasingly Integrated into Social Media

The race to integrate artificial intelligence into digital platforms continues unabated after the launch of various Meta AI tools in Menlo Park apps in recent weeks. After those innovations, TikTok also raises the stakes with the introduction of AI Alive - which is not active for Italian users, however - a new tool that allows users to create animated videos starting from simple photographs .

An evolution that confirms how AI is becoming not just a technical support but the beating heart of social content production. With all the risks that this entails. With over 1.5 billion active users every month worldwide and around 19 million in Italy alone (Datareportal 2024), TikTok is positioned at the forefront of experimenting with generative tools, offering increasingly automated functions that are accessible directly from within the app. But without launching its own general AI.

AI Alive: A Photo, A Prompt, and the Video Comes to Life

AI Alive is accessible directly from the camera to create TikTok stories and is aimed at a broad audience: of course, you don't need to know how to edit videos or master editing software. The user selects a photo from their camera roll, writes a short description — the classic " animate this scene " style prompt — and lets the algorithm do the rest. The result is a short video, enriched with movements, atmospheric and visual effects generated in a way that is consistent with the context. Generating the content takes a few minutes and the results vary depending on the complexity, as The Verge also noted: while the simplest prompts work well, complex requests are still imprecise. But the creative potential, especially for Stories and quick formats, is remarkable.

Content under control: security and automatic checks

To address the (many) concerns related to the use of AI , TikTok has implemented a multi-level moderation system. Each stage — from the initial photo to the prompt, up to the generated video — goes through automatic filters to verify that it does not violate the platform's policies. Before publication, an additional check is performed to ensure compliance with safety standards. In addition, all videos created with AI Alive are labeled as "AI-generated content " (an option that already exists but must be set manually when publishing stories or posts) and incorporate C2PA metadata , an international protocol that guarantees the traceability and authenticity of digital content, avoiding confusion with real or manipulated material.

Controversial Precedents: The Case of the “Sway Dance” Filter

This is not the first time that TikTok has experimented with generative AI. The AI ​​Sway dance , launched a few months ago, attracted criticism after some users reported the presence of unknown faces in the videos, obviously never uploaded voluntarily. An episode that raised doubts about the management of images and the use of external visual databases. Hence the need, reiterated by the platform, to strengthen the protocols for the protection of digital identity.

AI and widespread creativity: a new language for the social era

Artificial intelligence is becoming an extension of the user's ideas, transforming them into multimedia products compatible with the rhythms and aesthetics of the contemporary content industry. And we can only expect even more with AI agents that may be able to directly take over the management of a profile. In parallel, the urgency of educating users to distinguish authenticity from digital synthesis will also grow — and to consciously manage new creative potential.