How does AI empower the creation of high-quality live content?

This article deeply analyzes brand marketing strategies under current market trends and explores how to drive growth through innovative content. I hope it will be helpful to your exploration in the field of digital marketing.

High-quality live broadcast content has become the core driving force for revenue growth in major live broadcast rooms, and AIGC is undoubtedly the most cost-effective and efficient way to create high-quality live broadcast content . In fact, the application of AI in live broadcast rooms is becoming more and more in-depth, such as AI digital human anchors, AI technology to promote the optimization and upgrade of live broadcast services, etc.

The live broadcast industry is highly online, and the quality of content directly determines its value creation. These two characteristics enable the application of AIGC in it to generate maximum value and quickly penetrate into the core production links.

It sounds like new growth opportunities are just around the corner, but the uneven, real and fake application capabilities make people anxious and hesitant - they want to keep up with the AI ​​wave, but after investing the cost, can it really generate benefits? At what levels can it generate benefits?

To this end, we conducted in-depth research on the live broadcast industry and interviewed the top technology manufacturers in the live broadcast industry. We explored the segmented application scenarios of AI technology in the live broadcast industry for everyone's reference and discussion - how AI+live broadcast can reduce the cost and threshold of live broadcast content production, enable the creation of high-quality live broadcast content, and improve the quality, interactivity and personalized experience of live broadcast content.

1. AIGC reduces costs and improves efficiency for content production

AI technology empowers live content creation with a "low threshold, low cost, high efficiency" creation model, which has significantly promoted the process of reducing costs and increasing efficiency. This is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Virtual anchor generation

AI technology can generate virtual anchor images and voices, train models through deep learning algorithms, create realistic virtual images, and provide novel live broadcast experiences. Virtual anchors can broadcast live 24 hours a day without rest, and are not affected by factors such as emotions and health. Through pre-set scripts and interactive words, they can continuously attract user attention, increase the frequency and coverage of live broadcasts, and reduce dependence on real anchors and costs.

The top technology manufacturer in the live broadcast industry, iQiyi Technology, has also launched the "iQiyi Digital Human" product. According to the relevant product manager, the current digital human technology manufacturers mainly provide customers with a SaaS software, such as the "iQiyi Digital Human" platform, which can directly push the stream to a third-party platform for live broadcast. Then the customer sets up the so-called "people, goods and venues" in the background of this software, that is, before the broadcast starts, select a virtual anchor in the background, set up the product introduction in advance, and generate a digital live broadcast scene.

As a new type of thing, AI anchors are currently in the early stages of development and application. Platforms, businesses, and MCNs have all shown a mentality of embracing exploration. The development of technology is a process. At present, AI live broadcasts still have shortcomings in terms of interactive feedback and picture effects, and technological breakthroughs directly determine the development direction of digital human live broadcasts.

2. Content creation assistance

In terms of assistance in content creation, it is mainly divided into two categories: video and audio.

AI video creation tools, such as Baidu's "Dujia", allow users to enter text and automatically match video materials and edit it, quickly generating content-rich videos. AI technology can also automatically generate copy scripts based on hot news and user interests, providing inspiration and materials for creators and lowering the threshold for creation. It also includes personalized recommendations, real-time barrage processing, etc.

AI audio creation tools, AI technology provides functions such as text dubbing, timbre customization, and intelligent voice changing in the direction of sound creation, helping creators to complete dubbing work efficiently and concisely. Take the "VC Voice Conversion" of Zego Technology as an example. This technology can support Any-to-One voice conversion, that is, converting the voice of any speaker into a specific voice. The algorithm can generate high-definition target voice in real time, retaining the original tone and speaking rhythm.

For example, if the anchor wants to convert his or her voice into the voice of Crayon Shin-chan, he or she can change it to the voice of Crayon Shin-chan in real time during the live broadcast, which is equivalent to giving his or her voice a "new skin" and immediately liven up the atmosphere of the live broadcast room.

In addition, AI also provides great support for the operation of the live broadcast room, such as content analysis and recommendation. This link is not directly related to the creation of live broadcast content and will not be discussed in depth here.

2. AI technology optimization brings improved content quality

More and more live broadcast rooms use AI technology to optimize the quality of live broadcast content and protect user experience, thereby retaining more users. From the perspective of content production (excluding operations), there are mainly two directions:

First of all, AI technology optimizes the clarity and smoothness of live broadcasts.

For example, in live broadcasts or 1V1 video chats, when the external environment is "unfriendly", such as when the light is dim, the host's video picture clarity is low and prone to noise, the fans' viewing experience is very poor, the picture is "dark and blurry", and they easily lose patience and exit the live broadcast room.

Through AI technology, such as the "AI Image Quality Enhancement Algorithm" of Zego Technology, it is possible to "adjust the color" of the host's video in a dimly-lit environment: increase the brightness and saturation, reduce video noise, and improve the texture of the live broadcast picture. This is equivalent to an intelligent, real-time "color adjustment plug-in". In this way, users watching the live broadcast will also have a better impression of the live broadcast room.

The second is the innovation of live broadcast technology, such as AI-assisted green screen technology, virtual background, AI noise reduction, etc., which bring new audio-visual effects to live broadcast.

Among the three elements of live broadcasting, "people, goods, and venue", whether the live broadcast room is creative enough, has a sense of atmosphere, and is able to trigger the audience's "impulsive consumption" has a direct impact on the sales effect of the entire live broadcast. Therefore, major live broadcast rooms or live broadcast platforms choose to use virtual scenes for live broadcasting, using a more creative and eye-catching way than real scenes to leverage traffic.

The person in charge of relevant products at Zego Technology reported that a green screen application (used to change the background in real time in a green screen live broadcast room) gained 50,000 new users (that is, anchors) within half a year after it was connected to Zego's green screen cutout technology. In the second half of 2024, the green screen software was sold together with the live broadcast machine, and currently has nearly 2,000 new users, and is expected to reach an increase of 10,000 users this year.

The nearly 10-fold increase in benefits is enough to show the live broadcast market’s demand for replacing the green screen with the background. We also see that those who use AI+live broadcast technology first will reap the benefits first.

In addition, in live broadcasting scenarios, when the anchor is doing outdoor live broadcasting, there is often uncertain noise "intrusion", which seriously affects the user's hearing and even makes the user leave the live broadcast room. At this time, the anchor usually chooses noise reduction, but general noise reduction technology will damage the sound of music while reducing noise. If the anchor performs a singing performance, the noise reduction technology will directly identify the music accompaniment as noise and eliminate most of it. Not to mention that ordinary users feel uncomfortable, it is simply a torture for users who love music...

In response to this, Zego Technology has specifically launched "scenario-based AI noise reduction", which can eliminate environmental noise while ensuring pure music accompaniment. It can also intelligently adjust the best noise reduction strategy according to different live broadcast environments (outdoor noise environment & music performance scenes) - if it is outdoor noise and there is no music singing, AI noise reduction will start noise reduction to ensure high-quality human voice;

If there is music accompaniment in the environment, AI noise reduction will automatically identify the music accompaniment and reduce noise while retaining the human voice and pure music. In this way, no matter what environment the anchor is broadcasting in, without manual operation, AI noise reduction can protect the best sound quality of the anchor's human voice and music in real time, ensuring the most comfortable listening experience for users.

In addition, AI technology also protects the copyright of live content and reduces the risk of piracy through content watermarking, content fingerprint recognition, monitoring and shielding technology.

AI technology not only improves the efficiency and quality of live content creation, but also provides more innovation possibilities and business opportunities for live platforms and creators. It is foreseeable that with the continuous advancement of AI technology, live content creation will become more intelligent, personalized and interactive in the future.

The role of AI in "reducing costs and increasing efficiency" is nothing more than "replacing" the labor force, not "surpassing". However, the future development speed of AI will be faster than we think, and the empowerment of live content creation may soon change from "reducing costs and increasing efficiency" to "irreplaceable new production methods". Actively embracing AIGC is not only a means for enterprises to reduce costs and increase efficiency, but also a basic threshold to keep up with the pace of development.

Since the earliest industrial revolution, the development of any technology has been to enhance people's abilities through tool empowerment, thereby reducing the dependence of social development on professional talents. Workers who can't weave can use spinning machines to weave, and residents who can't weave can easily mow the lawn with a lawn mower. AIGC is also a tool empowerment, allowing people who can't draw to create beautiful pictures and people with poor writing skills to write excellent texts.

While new technologies change human production and lifestyle, they also give rise to changes in production relations. The advent of steam engines and internal combustion engines laid the foundation for the birth of automobiles, but this was just the beginning. The automobile truly became a driving force for changing the world when Henry Ford introduced the assembly line production method - a revolution in production relations. From then on, automobiles were mass-produced, became affordable, and entered the homes of ordinary people, becoming a powerful engine for promoting social and economic transformation.

Author: Luo Ji, Su Yi

Source: WeChat public account: Zixiangxian (ID: zixiangxian)