How to Create a Faceless YouTube Channel With AI-Generated Videos
With over 2.6 billion monthly active users, YouTube is one of the most popular content channels. It’s also one of the easiest content channels to monetize. Reach 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours, and you can monetize your channel to generate regular cashflow.
But many side hustlers shy away from YouTube because they don’t want to be on camera. Or they don’t have filming equipment. Or they aren’t comfortable talking on screen.
With a few AI tools in your workshop…all of that changes.
Now you can create YouTube videos without having to film anything, show your face, or even use your voice!
If it sounds too good to be true, it is. You’ll have to face a steep learning curve and lots of tedious editing to make your faceless YouTube channel become a reality. It’s not all copy and paste! But if you don’t mind putting in the work, you can start a faceless YouTube channel with AI in 5 steps.
#1 - Pick a niche for your channel
Niching down is hard, but your channel will grow faster if you pick a niche instead of making videos about random topics. Ideally, pick a niche you’re familiar with and passionate about. Think ahead: Can you still be making videos about this topic a year down the road?
Before choosing your niche, do your research and make sure there is an interest for the topic you want to talk about. Without an audience, your videos won’t make any money!
You also want to pick a niche that has a is not oversaturated, or it will take a long time to beat your competitors in the rankings.
Once you've selected your topic, it's time to start generating some videos!
#2 - Write a script for your first video
Just kidding, you don’t need to write a script. AI will do that for you.
Jasper AI is probably the best AI writing tool for creating longform content like video scripts, and you can use the interactive editor in conjunction with Google Docs. But there are plenty of other AI writing tools out there, like Rtyr or Writesonic.
Using an AI tool to write your script for you is not a completely hands-off process. You can’t just generate a perfect script with a click of the button!
I suggest creating a workflow where you generate an outline first, then develop the text under each heading separately. Then you can go back and edit the script, expand the text where necessary, and edit again. But it’s completely up to you how you want to develop your script. With Jasper commands, you can literally go paragraph by paragraph, editing as you go along. It takes some time to get the hang of writing prompts for AI, but eventually you will be able generate scripts very quickly. The slow part is the editing!
#3- Generate the video
Okay, so this is where the video-making process comes in.
If you happen to be creating online tutorials for your faceless YouTube channel, you can simply record your screen with Loom and you won’t have to show your face at all.
Otherwise, you can use an AI text-to-video tool to create a video using stock photos and video clips. Although you can research AI video tools on your own, below I’ve listed three worth trying out. Two of them also offer AI voiceovers, so you don’t even have to use your own voice if you don’t want to.
Invideo offers a large library of video templates, animated transitions, and stock clips to create videos. With the text-to-video AI tool you can pick a theme, add your headline and script, and watch Invideo select and piece together the stock clips and images.
This AI video creation tool is very similar to Invideo, with a text-to-video function that generates videos with stock photos and video clips just like Invideo. But Lumen5 has one thing that Invideo doesn’t: an AI voiceover tool that will read your script and generate the narration for you.
Unliked Invideo and Lumen5, Synthesia doesn’t just piece together stock videos and images. Instead, it creates a video with a realistic AI avatar narrating your script. It takes AI voiceovers to a whole new level!
You can also create the AI voiceover separate from the video with a tool like Voicemaker. However, it may be difficult to sync your voiceover with your video.
#4 - Create a thumbnail image
Next, you’ll want an eye-catching thumbnail image to make your video pop. Your thumbnail is very important, because it needs to stand out and make people want to click on your video.
You can easily create a custom thumbnail in Canva, my favorite all-around design platform. (This is an affiliate link.) Canva has a lot of templates to choose from, with stock photos and text decorations to make your thumbnail one-of-a-kind.
Of course, you can also have AI generate your thumbnail for you (no surprise here!) Designs.ai is a graphic design platform that will generate graphics for you. It’s as easy as selecting a template, inputting your text, and selecting one of the options it generates.
#5 - Generate an optimized headline & description
Finally, you need an optimized headline and description for your YouTube video. Like your thumbnail, your headline is key for success. The headline copy should have a strong hook, without being too clickbaity.
You can use an AI copywriting tool like Copy AI or Jasper AI to generate various headline options. Instead of just picking you favorite one, choose your top five and paste them into Headline Studio, a tool that will give you AI-powered suggestions on how to edit your headlines for the best results.
Once you’ve settled on the winning headline, you can move on to generating the description. Your YouTube video description should be clear and concise, while containing keywords that you want to rank for.
Now you can finally publish your AI-generated video on your new faceless YouTube channel!
Should you really start an AI-powered YouTube channel?
Starting a faceless YouTube channel using AI is something that almost anyone can do. Simply select a topic for your videos, choose your AI tools, then generate the scripts, videos, voiceovers, etc.
But simple doesn’t mean easy. AI tools cut down on creation time…but that doesn’t mean they are a “get out of work” ticket.
Creating AI-generated videos is still a lot of work. Between perfecting the script and the video, the editing process takes longer than you might expect.
So, if you want to create a faceless YouTube channel, AI might not actually be the best choice for you. You can have a faceless channel without AI, using screen recordings or videos that you’ve taken instead. And it sounds much more natural if you do the voiceovers yourself instead of using AI voiceover tools.
But if you’re willing to tackle the steep learning curve and add a bunch of AI tools to your content creation arsenal, then starting an AI-powered YouTube channel might be just the side hustle for you.
