Snapchat Launches New AI-Powered Video Lenses
It allows AI to generate animations that align seamlessly with your video clips.
Imagine filming a simple selfie video on Snapchat. Now, picture a tiny animated fairy suddenly peeking over your shoulder or a magical bouquet of flowers appearing in your hands as the camera zooms out. Sounds fun, right? Well, that’s exactly what Snapchat’s new Video Gen AI Lenses bring to the table.
Snapchat is stepping up its AI game with these Lenses, which take the platform’s already-popular AR filters and integrates generative AI to offer a more unique and personalized experience. Unlike traditional Lenses that simply overlay effects on your Snaps, this new update allows AI to generate animations that align seamlessly with your video clips.
To start, Snapchat is rolling out three AI-powered Lenses—“Raccoon,” “Fox,” and “Spring Flowers.” Each one features an animation that reflects its name. You can access these features through the Lens carousel, record a Snap, and let AI do the rest. The final video is saved in the Memories collection after processing.
Before you start scanning through filters though, keep in mind that this feature is currently exclusive to Snapchat+ Platinum subscribers, which costs $15.99 a month and includes an ad-free experience.
It’s an interesting move, considering Snapchat+ already has 14 million paying users, per Statista. By adding fun AI tools, Snapchat is clearly aiming to entice more users into its highest-priced plan. But do things like this really justify the high price tag?
It's clear social media platforms are all racing to see who can add the most AI features to their platforms like Instagram and TikTok with AI-generated backgrounds and effects. But with AI still evolving in social media, it remains to be seen whether these updates will be enough to drive subscriptions.
Louis Eriakha
