OpenAI’s Sora is slated for a 2024 release, meaning we’re just months away from hyperrealistic AI video. Sora seems poised to change the video world, in the same way AI image generators have changed the graphic design world. Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and Dall-E have blurred the lines between real and fake images, and the same thing is about to happen in video.
Sora’s videos are both incredible and concerning. Sora is above and beyond any current AI video generators, which feel more like stop-motion reels than true videos. OpenAI has achieved a level of fluidity in Sora that makes the videos feel real. As for animated videos, Sora seems to be even more advanced, producing Pixar-quality videos in just a matter of minutes.
We still don’t know what Sora was trained on, and apparently, OpenAI Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati doesn’t either. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Murati said she didn’t know whether Sora was trained on YouTube, Instagram, or Facebook videos. Several active lawsuits claim OpenAI used protected intellectual property to build its AI models, so the training data for Sora is an important issue.
OpenAI says Sora should be thought of as a tool for video creators, allowing filmmakers, video game engineers, and animators to do more. Some have speculated Sora could take jobs away from those in the film industry, but it remains to be seen how this will be used in the real world.
So far, OpenAI has shared dozens of videos showcasing the best of Sora’s abilities on TikTok. The public will not get access until later in 2024, but the early demos of OpenAI’s AI-generated videos are startling, yet breathtaking. Here’s a taste of what we’re in for later this year.
Computer Hacking Labrador
Prompt: A computer hacker Labrador Retriever wearing a black hooded sweatshirt sitting in front of the computer with the glare of the screen emanating on the dog’s face as he types very quickly.
Alien Blending In
Prompt: An alien blending in naturally with New York City, paranoia thriller style, 35mm film.
A Dog, An Artist
Prompt: A mini Aussie painting a picture of his favorite toy.
Italian Seaside
Prompt: The camera lowers and widens to a grand panoramic view overlooking the beautiful ocean and the historical buildings along the a stunning coastal picturesque town perched on the cliffs. Colorful buildings in shades of yellow, orange, pink, and white cascade down the steep slopes of the rugged coastline of Amalfi Coast in Italy. The architecture has a classic European charm, with tiled roofs and ornate details. Several boats and yachts are speckled across the calm waters, implying leisure activities like boating or sightseeing are common here. Lush greenery on the mountainous landscape. The overall image is vibrant, inviting, and bustling with the potential for holiday adventures and relaxation, warm golden light, beautiful high-end travel photography shot on 4K digital cameras.
The Home of Your Dreams
Prompt: Fly through tour of a futuristic house with a modern aesthetic and lots of light and plants.
Rabbit Family Dinner
Prompt: A cute rabbit family eating dinner in their burrow.
Flying Through a Museum
Prompt: Fly through tour of a museum with many paintings and sculptures and beautiful works of art in all styles.
Secret Life of Bees
Prompt: POV video of a bee as it dives through a beautiful field of flowers.
Midnight Drive
Prompt: A super car driving through city streets at night with heavy rain everywhere, shot from behind the car as it drives.
Crab Using a Lightbulb as a Shell
Prompt: Nighttime footage of a hermit crab using an incandescent lightbulb as its shell.
Nightmare
Prompt 1: A surreal scene unfolds as a giant, translucent jellyfish floats gracefully through a deserted cityscape at dusk. The scene is shot on 35mm film.
Prompt 2: A meticulously crafted diorama depicting a serene scene from Edo-period Japan. Traditional wooden architecture. A lone samurai, clad in intricate armor, walks slowly through the town.
Paper Worlds
Prompt: In a beautifully rendered papercraft world, a steamboat travels across a vast ocean with wispy clouds in the sky. vast grassy hills lie in the distant background, and some sealife is visible near the papercraft ocean’s surface.