If you’re looking for AI videos ready to post quickly, YouTube may have just launched the perfect solution. While YouTube’s Shorts section hasn’t gained much popularity in its attempt to compete with TikTok, its new AI background generator may actually be worth checking out.
YouTube Launches AI Green Screen Feature for Easy Video Generation
As YouTube announced on X, AI backgrounds are coming to YouTube, allowing you to easily create quick videos with AI-generated visuals behind you. The feature is called Dream Screen, and it supports text-to-image prompts, similar to the TikTok effect known as AI Greenscreen.
You might be thinking that this is another example of YouTube chasing TikTok’s tail and falling behind in doing so. To some extent, you’d be right. However, the feature is better than TikTok in some areas.
Dream Screen can apply motion to its AI-generated visuals. So, in addition to being able to create a static background, you can also have a generated video playing behind you.
And, these visuals don’t just come in one form, like the classic AI magical realism-type art you see with TikTok’s existing greenscreen feature. Dream Screen has a choice of styles, including “Vintage,” which is designed to look like retro photographs, and “Clay,” which is designed to look like claymation.
How to use Dream Screen on YouTube Shorts
Upon release, YouTube’s Dream Screen feature is available to users in the US, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. And, it’s actually a little easier to access than using TikTok’s AI greenscreen feature, which requires you to search for the feature in the app’s Effects.
When you open the YouTube app, simply head over to the Shorts tab and press the + icon to add a post. From there, select the greenscreen icon on the right-hand panel, and the Dream Screen icon will be first on the list. Type in what you want to create, and once the platform generates images in the style you prefer, you’ll have the option to make it a still or video background.
For now, the Dream screen will have the word “Experiment” appear throughout the process to remind you to forgive its mistakes. Still, I was quite impressed with its motion generation. I asked it to create a simple video of me pouring coffee into a mug.
The image it produced had a warm, old-film-like image to it and appeared very realistic without the ubiquitous awkward hands or other common AI identifiers. The motion was almost perfect — until the very end, when the stream of coffee appeared to defy physics.
Still, this tool seems useful, especially for someone who may lack the resources — like the ability to design and film a teaser for a startup coffee brand. As a film lover, I will always say that AI generation is not (and probably never will be) comparable to actual filmmaking.
But, I can see its merit for entrepreneurs or creative people who need to create a concept video with little time, money, or amateur video skills. Plus, YouTube has extended the length of its Shorts to three minutes, so you’ll have more room to play with your AI world.
