The promise and pitfalls of AI
There’s no doubt AI is a hot topic for creators and filmmakers right now. Despite its rapid development, it’s still very early days for artificial intelligence, and artists are unclear about how it might impact their workload and role as creatives.
Jordan Orme is an award-winning film editor and YouTuber based in LA. He has collaborated with Justin Bieber, Nike, MrBeast, and numerous other prominent artists and brands, and has become well-known for his innovative editing skills and ability to craft compelling stories.
Jordan has a lot of thoughts on the development of AI, and as a long-time member of the Artlist community, he’s been one of the first to try our AI Voiceover, AI extension, AI-powered search, and AI image and video generator tools.
In this article, we’ll find out more about Jordan’s journey as a creator, his reservations about AI, how he’s tentatively incorporating it into his workflow, and his thoughts on how this new era of technology might impact artists.
From B-Roll to A-List
Jordan Orme is a film editor from Wisconsin and Hawaii, and moved to LA to study film. “I didn’t know if I wanted to do film, so I started making short films and I realised I didn’t really like it,” he says.
But then he got into the editing lab and started piecing stuff together, watching tutorials, and figuring out how to use editing software. “I looked up at the clock and it was 5 am,” he says. “And I just thought it was awesome, and so fun.”
After that, Jordan continued editing every day and became a freelance editor working on commercials and music videos.
“It took two or three years, but a couple of people had the right connections and I started working on music videos for Justin Bieber’s album Changes,” Jordan says.
By the time he was 25, Jordan had worked on music videos for Chris Brown, Tiga, Nike, Mr Beast, Donald Glover, Lululemon, and many more big names and brands.
“And then the pandemic happened, and a friend suggested I start a YouTube channel,” Jordan says.
He started by breaking down his own work, and then did the same for other music videos by artists like Taylor Swift and K-pop. “Those videos blew up,” he says. “So I kept doing that and the channel kept growing, and now I’ve transitioned into full-time YouTube creation with some freelance editing on the side.”
Working with Artlist’s new AI tools
Jordan started using Artlist when he was in film school, and hasn’t stopped using it since. “I use Artlist all the time, so it’s super easy to talk about it on my channel,” he says. “At first, I used it for music and stock footage, and now I use their sound effects and Premiere Pro extension a lot.”
Lately, he’s been using Artlist’s new AI tools within tutorials to show creators how to incorporate new features like AI voiceover, text-to-image, and image-to-video technology into their work. “For a lot of people, AI just isn’t part of their normal workflow, especially if you’ve done filmmaking for a long time,” Jordan says.
His favorite Artlist AI tool is the voiceover feature, which he uses in pre-production for commercials. “When you do commercials, you’re always reworking the script and sending temporary versions over to the client,” he explains. “With Artlist’s AI voiceover, you can do a temporary voiceover and change it, switch out the script, move stuff around, change the pacing, without having to go to the actual voiceover artists, which could be really expensive. So there’s a lot of flexibility there.” Once they’ve finalized the script, Jordan then works with a voiceover artist to record it.
He recently collaborated with Artlist to turn his dreams into an animated Rick and Morty-inspired YouTube video, created entirely with Artlist’s AI tools. “I used their voice-to-voice feature, so I recorded my own voice, and then changed it to somebody else’s. So I had a different voice for each character and made an entire animated film in my room.”
He’s also started exploring how to use Artlist’s image-to-video AI for transitional shots. “You can get pretty creative with certain transitions,” he says. “I was working on a video and put in a prompt, and it transitioned from eight-millimeter footage to a nice wide-screen cinematic shot that looked very beautiful. It was a really cool transition. So it saves time, but it also gives you creative ideas that you wouldn’t have thought of yourself.”
Jordan prefers to hire people where he can, but understands not everyone has the budget. “If you’re by yourself with no money and want to do something weird and creative, then AI is a good option, especially with image-to-video tools,” he says.
Intentional and ethical AI
As AI continues to reshape the creative world, Jordan is both excited and apprehensive. As his platform has grown alongside the development of AI, he wants human connection to remain the driving force behind art.
“My concern is that it has the opportunity to take creativity away from humans,” says Jordan. “If I need to make an ad for a brand, I can tell AI and it will make it for me, and it might do a better job than me, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
Jordan is concerned that this will put people out of jobs, especially editors, animators, and cinematographers. “I want to make filmmaking more accessible and democratized, and make sure people have access to the tools they need to tell amazing stories, while also supporting the people who make a living from this industry.”
Jordan feels that he represents both sides: the creative professionals, and the people who are learning how to make films and don’t have the tools to do so. “That’s the tension I wrestle with,” he says. “But what makes art valuable to me is the humanity and intention that goes into making creative decisions.”
If he were to watch a movie made by AI, he wouldn’t value it as much as he would if it were made without it. “The qualm I have is that creativity belongs in the hands of humans, and not robots,” he says.
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The future of creativity
Ultimately, Jordan hopes AI helps democratize the creative industries while ensuring industry professionals continue to thrive. “I think documentaries, reality TV, like those types of videos, those sectors won’t be as affected,” he says. “Theater and live events will be huge, because they champion real, live personal connection.”
Jordan wants people to use AI safely, in a sustainable way. “I don’t want us to lose our critical thinking,” he says. “For example, I have a problem, and I’m not even gonna think about it for a second. I’m gonna go talk to AI about it, and it’s gonna solve my problem for me.”
But he also has high hopes for the future of AI. “It can help solve tedious tasks that people hate,” he says. “I hate sorting through all my footage and data entry, and AI is good at that, so it can get rid of roadblocks. It’s not replacing creative decisions but helping make better ones.”
Jordan believes AI can help people share what’s in their hearts and form deeper connections as a result. “AI can help you tell a great story,” Jordan says. “So if you have something that you want to tell the world, a message to get out there, use AI to do that.”
Interested in testing AI tools for your own projects? Experiment, have fun, and try Artlist’s new AI image and video generator out for yourself.
Jordan Orme is a storyteller who has worked on music videos, commercials, feature films, and television content with agencies like Riveting Entertainment, Avonni, West Productions, and many more on brands like Google, Amazon, RocNation, and Empire Records.
Learn more about Jordan and his work on his website, or check out his Instagram and YouTube channel.
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