If you’re looking for quick, ready-to-post AI video, YouTube might have just launched the perfect solution. While YouTube’s Shorts section hasn’t gained too much traction in its quest to compete with TikTok as the go-to short-form video platform, its new AI background generator might actually be worth checking out.
YouTube Launched an AI Green Screen Feature for Easy Video Generation
As announced by YouTube 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 yet another example of YouTube chasing TikTok’s tail, and being behind the curve in doing so. To some extent, you’d be right. However, this feature does come out on top of TikTok’s in a couple of areas.
Dream Screen can apply motion to its AI-generated visuals. So, in addition to being able to produce a still background, you can have a generated video playing behind you. And, these visuals don’t come in just one look, like the classic AI magical realism-type art you see with TikTok’s existing greenscreen feature. Dream Screen has an option to Choose style, including but not limited to “Vintage,” made to look like retro photographs, and “Clay,” designed to give that claymation appearance.
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 compared to 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 navigate to the Shorts tab and hit 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 of your choosing, you’ll have the option to make it a still or video background.
As always, make sure the YouTube app is updated.
For now, Dream Screen will have the term “Experiment” visible throughout the process to remind you to forgive its mistakes. That said, I was fairly impressed by its motion generation. I asked it to create a simple video of coffee being poured into a mug. The image it generated had a warm, vintage film look to it and appeared very realistic, without the ubiquitous weird hands or other common AI identifiers. The motion was nearly perfect—until the very end, when the stream of coffee appeared to defy physics.
Still, the tool seems useful, especially for someone who might lack resources—like the ability to design and film a teaser for a startup coffee brand. As a film nerd, I’ll always say that AI generation doesn’t (and probably never will) compare to actual filmmaking. But, I can see its merit for entrepreneurs or creatives who need to create a concept video with little time, money, or amateur video skills. Plus, with YouTube extending its Shorts duration cap to three minutes, you have more room to play with your AI world.