--- title: "How to get AI to make short videos" url: https://howtogetaito.com/make/short-videos/ published: 2026-09-26 updated: 2026-09-26 author: "Jack Stovell" author_profile: https://i.hilyt.it/jack publisher: "Adapt Progress Evolve" summary: "A repeatable routine for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikToks with AI doing the heavy lifting: a script in your own voice, a shot list, your footage plus a few generated clips, voice, captions and edit, the AI label each platform requires, and the honest truth about what YouTube will and won't pay for." tools: ["ChatGPT","Claude","ScriptGrain","YouTube","Instagram","Edits","TikTok","CapCut","Opus Clip","ElevenLabs","Google Flow","Runway"] ours: ["ScriptGrain"] disclosure: "ScriptGrain is made by the publisher." language: en-GB --- # How to get AI to make short videos > A repeatable routine for YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels and TikToks with AI doing the heavy lifting: a script in your own voice, a shot list, your footage plus a few generated clips, voice, captions and edit, the AI label each platform requires, and the honest truth about what YouTube will and won't pay for. Published 2026-09-26 · Last updated 2026-09-26 · By Jack Stovell (https://i.hilyt.it/jack) · Canonical page: https://howtogetaito.com/make/short-videos/ ## What you'll be able to do Right, so you want to make Shorts, Reels, TikToks, whatever you want to call the vertical video thing, and you want AI doing most of the work. Fair enough. By the end of this you'll have a workflow you can actually repeat: a script written with an AI assistant that sounds like you, a shot list, visuals that mix your own footage with a few AI-generated clips, a voice (yours, or a synthetic one), captions added automatically, and the right AI label switched on for whichever platform you're posting to. You'll also know, honestly, what YouTube will and won't pay for, because that bit matters if you're doing this for money and not just for fun. I'm not going to pretend every AI tool works everywhere. It doesn't. Several of the flashier YouTube features aren't available in the UK. I'll flag those as we go. ## Before you start The main thing to get your head around before you touch any tool is that every platform now has a rule about disclosing AI content, and the rules are different enough to trip you up if you're posting the same video in three places. YouTube wants you to set "AI use" to Yes in YouTube Studio, under Attributes, when the AI makes a real person seem to say or do something they didn't, alters footage of a real event or place, or makes a realistic scene that never happened. AI-generated music is on its list of things that need disclosing too. You don't need it for clearly unrealistic content, minor edits, using AI to help with your script, title or thumbnail, captions, or cloning your own voice for a voiceover. YouTube says disclosing won't limit your audience or your ability to earn; creators who repeatedly don't disclose can have content removed or be suspended from the Partner Programme. Instagram runs on Meta's rule, which is about photorealistic video or realistic-sounding audio that's been generated or altered. Meta's own example is a reel narrated with a realistic AI voiceover. So here's the trap: a cloned voice that YouTube doesn't make you disclose still needs a label on Instagram. Turn on "Add AI label" when you create the reel and viewers see "AI content" on it. Images on their own don't need labelling. Meta can also label things itself when it detects AI signals in the file, and it says there may be penalties if you don't label when you should. TikTok's the same idea, different button: before you post, go to More options and turn on "AI-generated content". It wants that on anything with realistic AI images, audio or video. TikTok also labels its own AI effects automatically, and anything carrying C2PA Content Credentials, and once an auto label is on you can't take it off. TikTok says turning the label on doesn't affect distribution. What TikTok bans outright, label or no label, is fake crisis events or fake authoritative sources, public figures shown endorsing things, the likeness of anyone under 18, and private adults used without their permission. Now the money question, because this is where people get their hopes up and then get burned. YouTube's Partner Programme needs 1,000 subscribers plus either 4,000 public watch hours in the last 12 months, or 10 million qualified Shorts views in the last 90 days. Shorts views don't count towards the watch-hours route, so pick your lane. You also need two-step verification on and an AdSense for YouTube account. Every channel then gets reviewed, by automated systems and human reviewers, typically in about a month, and hitting the numbers doesn't guarantee you get in. Here's the bit that catches faceless channels out. In July 2025 YouTube renamed its "repetitious content" policy to "inauthentic content", and it applies to Shorts as much as long videos. Mass-produced, generic or repetitive content can't earn, and YouTube spells out "AI-generated content made with generic or unoriginal templates" alongside slideshows or scrolling text with barely any narrative, and unrelated AI clips stitched together. What's explicitly fine: AI visualising a character and story you invented, AI helping edit your script, AI making a background. Nothing in the policy says you have to show your face. The line is whether there's a person behind it with a point of view. And an AI persona handing out health, legal or money advice can't be monetised at all. One more: if your videos are aimed at children, YouTube requires you to mark them Made for Kids wherever you live, and says you're legally responsible for getting it right under the US Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and any other laws that apply. Made for Kids switches off comments, the notification bell and personalised ads, so revenue can drop. Worth knowing before you build a channel around AI kids' videos. ## Get set up You don't need much. An AI assistant you already use, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, whichever, is where the script gets written. A video tool for the visuals. Something for voice, if you're not using your own. And a way to make the whole thing sound like you rather than like everyone else's AI channel, which is the bit most people skip and shouldn't, given what YouTube says about templates. For that last part I'd point you at ScriptGrain first, because it's ours and because it does something specific that's useful here: it builds a voice profile from writing you've already done, measured on 45 reference points, and scores every draft against that profile so you can see how close it lands rather than guessing. The profile also works inside ChatGPT and Claude through its API and MCP server, so you can write the script in the assistant you already use. There's a free tier with one voice profile, one writing analysis and one free draft, no card needed, and Writer is £12 a month for 40 pieces if you're posting regularly (check scriptgrain.com/pricing). If you'd rather not sign up for anything, the free way is to paste three of your own past captions into ChatGPT or Claude and tell it to match that voice. It's not measured and there's no score, but it gets you most of the way. For visuals, start with what's built into the apps. In the YouTube app, tap Create, then the sparkle icon, and you can generate a clip of up to 10 seconds from a text prompt, or an AI green-screen background to film in front of. Shorts made with YouTube's own AI tools get their AI label added automatically. In the UK, though, adding reference photos to those prompts isn't available, nor are Photo to video and Make me move, and none of these tools work in the EEA. The Gemini Omni video generator inside the separate YouTube Create app isn't available in the UK either. Check before you plan a whole video around a feature that turns out to be missing. Outside YouTube's own tools: CapCut does auto captions, text to speech and has its own AI video generator. Edits, Instagram's free editor for iPhone and Android, does auto captions and AI animation of photos, and exports in 4K with no watermark. Opus Clip is the one if you've already got long-form video and want it cut into shorts, with reframing and captions done for you; its free tier is watermarked and the clips stop being exportable after three days (check opus.pro/pricing). For voice, ElevenLabs has a free tier, but the commercial licence and voice cloning sit on the paid plans (check elevenlabs.io/pricing). Google Flow gives limited access free with a Google account, and the paid Google AI plans add credits for Gemini Omni video (check gemini.google/gb/subscriptions). Runway is free to try too. ## Try it yourself Here's the script step. Paste in a few of your own captions so it doesn't come out sounding like a template. ``` Write a 45-second script for a vertical video about [topic] for [who it is for]. Open with a hook line that says what they get, under ten words. Short spoken sentences, contractions, one idea per line. End with one line that sets up the next video. Here are three captions I have written so it sounds like me: [paste]. Give me three hook options, then the script, with a note of what is on screen for each line. ``` Once you've got a script, turn it into something you can actually film or generate: ``` Turn this script into a shot list for a 9:16 video. For each line: on-screen text under six words, what the viewer sees, and whether it is my own footage, a screen recording or an AI clip. For each AI clip, write a video prompt under 60 words: subject, action, setting, camera move, lighting. No real people, brands or logos. Script: [paste]. ``` Then record your voice or generate it, drop the clips into CapCut or Edits in the order of the shot list, and let the auto captions do the first pass. Keep it inside three minutes if it's going to YouTube as a Short; that's the upload limit for a square or vertical Short. And before you get too far into a run of videos, do a sense check on whether you're drifting into template territory: ``` Here are the titles and scripts of my last five Shorts: [paste]. Be blunt. Would a reviewer think these look templated or mass-produced? What repeats from video to video, and what in each is my own opinion or experience? Suggest one change per video that adds something only I could say. ``` ## Check the result Before you upload, run through this. Watch it with the sound off: does it still make sense from the captions alone? Plenty of people scroll on mute. Check the hook lands in the first two seconds, not the fifth. Check every fact is actually true, because AI scripts state things confidently that aren't quite right. Read the auto captions word by word; names and jargon are where they slip. Make sure the AI label is switched on for each platform that needs it, remembering that Instagram wants one for a realistic AI voiceover even where YouTube doesn't. And check you haven't used a real person's face or voice, or a brand's logo, without permission, AI clip or not. ## If it doesn't work If the clips look uncanny, lean more on your own footage or screen recordings and use generated shots for the odd cutaway. It tends to read as more trustworthy anyway. If a feature you've seen in a tutorial is missing, check whether it's a UK availability issue before you blame your phone. A lot of YouTube's AI tools are limited by country and device language. If YouTube turns down your Partner Programme application, the usual culprit is content that looks templated. Go back and put your own view into every video, not just the facts. You can appeal within 21 days or reapply after 30. On privacy: never use someone else's face or voice without their permission, and never a child's. Clone only your own voice. Don't paste anything private into a script prompt that you wouldn't say on camera. And read the terms of whichever tool you're using before you use its output commercially, because the free tier and the commercial licence are often quite different things. ## Questions people ask ### Do I have to disclose AI-generated short videos on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok? Yes, but the rules differ. YouTube wants "AI use" set to Yes in Studio under Attributes for realistic altered content; Instagram uses Meta's "Add AI label" for photorealistic video or realistic-sounding audio; TikTok has an "AI-generated content" toggle under More options. ### Does a cloned voice need an AI label? That's the trap: YouTube doesn't make you disclose cloning your own voice for a voiceover, but Instagram does, because Meta's own example is a reel narrated with a realistic AI voiceover. ### Can AI-made Shorts be monetised on YouTube? Only if they're not mass-produced or templated. YouTube's "inauthentic content" policy names AI-generated content made with generic templates and unrelated AI clips stitched together. AI visualising a character and story you invented is explicitly fine. ### Which free AI tools can I use to make short videos? YouTube's in-app sparkle icon generates clips up to 10 seconds; CapCut does auto captions, text to speech and AI video; Edits is free on iPhone and Android and exports 4K with no watermark. ElevenLabs has a free tier, Google Flow gives limited free access with a Google account, and Runway is free to try. ### Why are some YouTube AI video features missing in the UK? It's a country availability issue, not your phone. In the UK you can't add reference photos to prompts, and Photo to video, Make me move and the Gemini Omni generator in YouTube Create aren't available; none work in the EEA. ## Keep exploring If you want more depth on any one part of this, there's "[How to get AI to make a video](https://howtogetaito.com/make/a-video/)" for longer pieces, "[How to get AI to edit a video](https://howtogetaito.com/edit/a-video/)" for tightening footage you've already shot, "[How to get AI to make a voice-over](https://howtogetaito.com/make/a-voiceover/)" if you're not using your own voice, and "[How to get AI to write a social post](https://howtogetaito.com/write/a-social-post/)" for the caption that goes with it. If the voice is the sticking point, "[How to get AI to sound like me](https://howtogetaito.com/sound-like/me/)" goes deeper, and if you're weighing this up as a side income, read "[How to get AI to help me make money](https://howtogetaito.com/help-me/make-money/)" before you sink hours in. ## Sources and review notes - YouTube Partner Programme eligibility: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/72851 - YouTube channel monetisation policies (inauthentic and reused content, AI personas): https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1311392 - YouTube AI disclosure: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/14328491 - YouTube Shorts AI tools and UK/EEA availability: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/15260303 - YouTube Create app AI features: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/16631240 - Uploading Shorts (length and aspect ratio): https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/12779649 - Made for Kids: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9528076 · https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9527654 - Instagram AI labels: https://help.instagram.com/761121959519495 - TikTok AI-generated content: https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/creating-videos/ai-generated-content - Edits: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/edits-video-editor/id6738967378 · https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.instagram.basel - CapCut: https://www.capcut.com/ · https://www.capcut.com/tools/auto-caption-generator - Opus Clip: https://www.opus.pro/pricing - ElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.io/pricing - Google Flow and Gemini Omni: https://gemini.google/gb/subscriptions/ - Runway: https://runway.com/ - ScriptGrain: https://scriptgrain.com/llms.txt · https://scriptgrain.com/pricing Review date: 26 September 2026 — every source above was opened and checked against the text on that date.