Five AI Tools You Can Actually Use

(Without Pulling Your Hair Out)

20 January 2025

All the hype around AI is quite honestly exhausting. There’s a new AI tool appearing almost everyday that’s going to “revolutionise your business” or “10x your creativity.”

I’ve tested a boatload of them—some are fantastic, some are terrible, and some are downright laughable. So, to help you navigate the AI revolution (for this month at least) I’ve rounded up the AI tools that actually make my daily content creation life easier and probably will for you too.

1. Captions: Because Subtitles Are Painful Enough

No one really likes writing captions or subtitles from scratch, but AI has made the process infinitely less tedious. Captions is my personal go-to. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best all-rounder I’ve tried.

Why It Rocks

  • Accurate and Colourful Subtitles: Captions automatically adds punctuation (yay!) and does a decent job detecting pauses and line breaks. You get a crisp, polished end product with very little effort.

  • AI Avatars: Don’t love being on camera? Captions can generate AI avatars, which are surprisingly realistic if you need a “face” for your social posts without physically showing up yourself.

Watch Outs

  • No SRT Exports: Big bummer if you want to reuse your subtitles on multiple platforms.

  • Limited Video Editing: If you make a tweak to the video that doesn’t affect the captions, you can’t just replace the file—so you’ll have to redo your entire video creation process within the app.

  • Occasional Bugs: It’s generally stable, but it has its glitchy moments.

Runner-Up

  • CapCut: Great if you need more advanced editing options. It’s not quite as intuitive or accurate for subtitles, but you’ll get extra flexibility for transitions, effects, and all that good stuff.

Pro Tip: If you use Captions regularly, build a workflow to store your raw video and final edited versions separately. This way, if the app freaks out, you have a clean copy to re-import.

2. AI Voice Generators: Let Your Copy Speak Volumes

From the “brain rot” TikTok voices to robotic narrations that sound straight out of a ‘90s video game, the AI voice space is pretty crowded. I’ve tried most of the big names—Speechify, Descript, LOVO.ai—and they’re okay but often leave me wanting more human-sounding nuances.

The Best by a Mile

  • Well Said Labs: Yes, it’s pricey. But if you’re after realistic-sounding voices that don’t make your listeners hit “mute” out of sheer annoyance, it’s worth exploring.


What Makes It Awesome

  • Variety of Accents & Tones: From smooth Scottish burr to lively Irish lilt or a polished British accent, it offers a range that actually sounds quite natural—something many AI voice tools struggle with.

  • Intuitive Interface: It’s a breeze to adjust speed, tone, and pronunciation. Perfect for those quick brand video VOs when you can’t hire a voice actor.

  • Trial Hacks: There’s a trial mode you can test out. Technically, you can export audio if you know a few browser tricks (not that I’m encouraging anything sneaky—but hey, we’re marketers ;).

Runner-Up

  • Descript for quick edits and AI voice clones if you need a fast workaround, though the voices can still feel a bit robotic.

Marketer’s Note: If you regularly produce video ads, podcasts, or training modules, investing in a quality AI voice can make or break your audience engagement. Crisp audio = professional brand image.

3. Thumbnail Generators: Because Clickbait Is an Art Form

Your thumbnail can make or break your click-through rate, and we all know how crucial that first impression is. Don’t get me started on Photoshop AI: it’s either spot on or it’ll produce something so bizarre you’ll wonder if it’s messing with you on purpose.

Hidden Gem

  • Pikzels (https://pikzels.com/): This tool helps you whip up engaging thumbnails in minutes. It’s super straightforward—just choose a style, drop in your text and images, and let the AI handle the rest. You do have to setup a discord account similar to Mid Journey but it’s very easy to use.


Why Marketers Love It

  • Easy Customisation: Add brand colours, logo, or stylised text.

  • Minimal Learning Curve: You don’t have to spend hours wrestling with layers and masks.

  • Time-Saver: Perfect for quick experiments with different headlines or designs without manually creating each version.

Extra Tip: Don’t forget to A/B and C test your thumbnails if you have the bandwidth as this is now available to all YouTube channels. Even small tweaks can lead to noticeable improvements in CTR.

4. Adding That Personal Touch (a.k.a. The Human Factor)

You’ve probably seen those short videos that let you personalise a sales or support email. Loom has been the big player here, but if you’re looking for something cheaper and still super useful:

  • Komodo Decks: This nifty tool not only helps you record quick personal videos, but it also churns out AI summaries of video meetings. Imagine jumping off a Zoom call and having an instant summary ready to go. Chef’s kiss.

Where It Shines

  • Cost-Effective: It’s a fraction of Loom’s price, saving your marketing budget for more ads—or coffee.

  • Instant AI Summaries: Use these transcripts in ChatGPT or other AI tools for deeper analysis, blog post creation, or pulling out quotable stats.

  • Sales & Support: Quick personalised videos can drastically improve email open rates and response times.

Marketer’s Trick: After a client call, use Komodo Decks to generate a summary and feed it straight into ChatGPT. In seconds, you can draft a follow-up email, social media snippet, or internal note to keep your entire team in the loop.

5. ChatGPT YouTube Transcript: A Marketer’s Secret Weapon

Yes, we’re capping this list off with ChatGPT because it’s basically the Swiss Army Knife of AI tools. And one of the handiest ways to use it is with it's Transcript & Summary for YouTube Chrome extension.

Why You Need This

  • Instant Transcripts: Perfect for pulling quotes, stats, or entire sections of a video without manually typing them out.

  • One-Click Summaries: Summaries are a lifesaver when researching new topics for blog posts, product development, or competitor analysis.

  • Easy Integration: Copy-paste the transcript into ChatGPT, ask for insights, and watch it churn out an outline, bullet points, or a polished paragraph. It’s your own personal research intern.

How I Use It: Let’s say I’m working on a new blog about emerging Instagram trends. I’ll find a few credible YouTube experts, grab their transcripts, and dump them into ChatGPT to create a quick, consolidated summary of all the insights—saves hours of manual note-taking.

Final Word on the AI Hype

Yes, the AI space is booming. Yes, there’s a ton of noise. But some of these tools really can save you time, improve your content quality, and boost your marketing game without sucking your soul (or your budget).

Key Takeaway: Focus on practicality. If a tool streamlines your workflow, helps you create better content faster, and fits your budget, it’s worth a look. There’s no need to try every shiny new AI app—just keep a keen eye out for ones that truly solve your pain points.

So go forth, experiment wisely, and enjoy having a new AI sidekick (or two). Whether it’s subtitles, voiceovers, thumbnails, or personal video follow-ups, there’s definitely an AI solution to spare you from the content creation grind. And that’s something to celebrate—hype or no hype!


TEL: +4428 9756 5116
studio@visualnarrative.tv

OFFICES

115 CROSSGAR ROAD

BALLYNAHINCH

BT248XT

NORTHERN IRELAND



46 Hill Street,

Belfast ,

BT1 2LB

United Kingdom

26 Upper Pembroke Street

Suite 2204.

Dublin 2.

Republic of Ireland

@Visual Narrative Ltd


TEL: +4428 9756 5116
studio@visualnarrative.tv

OFFICES

115 CROSSGAR ROAD

BALLYNAHINCH

BT248XT

NORTHERN IRELAND



46 Hill Street,

Belfast ,

BT1 2LB

United Kingdom

26 Upper Pembroke Street

Suite 2204.

Dublin 2.

Republic of Ireland

@Visual Narrative Ltd


TEL: +4428 9756 5116
studio@visualnarrative.tv

OFFICES

115 CROSSGAR ROAD

BALLYNAHINCH

BT248XT

NORTHERN IRELAND



46 Hill Street,

Belfast ,

BT1 2LB

United Kingdom

26 Upper Pembroke Street

Suite 2204.

Dublin 2.

Republic of Ireland

@Visual Narrative Ltd