Are you a content creator or marketer looking to enhance your content production? Curious about how AI can help you generate high-quality content more efficiently?
In this article, we’ll explore the top AI tools designed for research, image creation, video production, and audio generation, helping you streamline your creative workflow.
Who Should Use AI-Powered Content Creation Tools?
Not every content creator necessarily needs AI tools, but according to AI tools expert Matt Wolfe, integrating AI into content production is no longer optional for businesses focused on digital content.
“If you’re a business owner and content is your business, and you’re looking for the most efficient way to get high-quality content out into the world, using AI is a must,” Wolfe explains. “There’s really no more efficient way to create content than to leverage some of these tools that act as shortcuts to producing exceptional content.”
Wolfe speaks from firsthand experience. By strategically implementing AI, he successfully manages a thriving YouTube channel, curates AI tools on his Future Tools website, and maintains a strong presence across multiple social media platforms—all with just two team members, a workload that typically requires a team of 20.
If you’re looking to maximize efficiency and improve content quality, Wolfe recommends incorporating these free and paid AI tools into your creative process.
1. AI-Powered Research Tools
Perplexity
Perplexity is a hybrid AI tool that combines the functionalities of ChatGPT and Google Search, offering deeper insights than conventional search engines.
Unlike ChatGPT’s built-in search, which provides surface-level results, Perplexity synthesizes information from multiple sources, generating comprehensive research summaries.
Wolfe points out that Perplexity surpasses Google’s AI-generated summaries, which often struggle with accuracy due to an inability to distinguish between credible information and internet memes. Perplexity’s advanced filtering mechanism ensures more reliable and contextually appropriate results.
The free version includes core search and synthesis capabilities with ads, while the paid version removes ads and allows users to choose their preferred large language model (LLM), including options like Claude or GPT-4 instead of the default Llama model.
Google Gemini DeepResearch
For more sophisticated research, Wolfe recommends Google’s Gemini DeepResearch, available through a paid subscription (around $20 per month).
This tool analyzes hundreds of websites simultaneously. For instance, Wolfe recently used it to study quantum computing, and DeepResearch analyzed 247 sources, compiling a 12-page document detailing the benefits, challenges, current trends, and future developments.
Its seamless integration with Google Drive makes it particularly valuable for content creators working on in-depth educational or analytical content.
2. AI Image Generation Tools
Leonardo
Wolfe considers Leonardo his primary tool for AI-driven image creation, thanks to its versatility and powerful features.
Leonardo supports multiple AI models, including Flux for photorealistic images and the proprietary Phoenix model, which Wolfe believes surpasses Midjourney in generating vibrant, high-contrast artwork.
One standout feature is Flow State Mode, allowing users to provide a basic prompt and receive an infinite scroll of varied images. The “More Like This” button refines results by generating variations based on selected images. This feature is especially useful for designing YouTube thumbnails.
Leonardo operates on a credit-based system, offering approximately 100 free credits per day. Each image consumes 4–8 credits depending on resolution and settings, allowing users to generate around 20 images daily on the free plan.
Editor’s Note: Matt Wolfe serves as an advisor to Leonardo.
Ideogram
For projects requiring integrated text within images, Ideogram outperforms competitors. It accurately embeds text in images eight out of ten times, whereas ChatGPT and other tools often fail entirely.
Maintaining Image Consistency: LoRAs vs. Seeds
For creators seeking visual consistency across multiple images, LoRAs (Low Rank Adapters) offer a superior solution compared to traditional seed-based methods.
While seeds determine an image’s starting noise pattern, changing any aspect of the prompt results in an entirely different image. In contrast, LoRAs allow users to train AI on specific subjects or styles, ensuring consistent visual characteristics across different images.
For instance, creators can train a LoRA using ten screenshots from South Park to generate images in that distinctive style. Similarly, training a LoRA on ten images of a specific person enables the AI to create consistent variations of that character in different settings.
This approach is widely used for AI influencers and brand identity consistency. Major platforms like Leonardo, Flux, and Midjourney have integrated LoRA capabilities.
3. AI Video Content Generation Tools
Google’s Veo2
Currently in early beta, Veo2 is Wolfe’s top recommendation for AI-driven video generation. The tool generates four variations per prompt, with two usually yielding excellent results.
Video creation takes about four minutes per request, but users can run up to five instances simultaneously for increased efficiency. Access requires joining a waitlist.
Sora by OpenAI
When OpenAI first introduced Sora, it showcased highly realistic AI-generated video demos. However, the final public version, Sora Turbo, was optimized for lower computational costs, resulting in slightly reduced visual fidelity.
Despite this, OpenAI has improved processing speeds and increased accessibility, making Sora Turbo a practical AI video generation tool balancing capability and cost-efficiency.
Luma Ray2
Luma’s latest AI video model, Ray2, represents a major leap forward. While not quite as advanced as Veo2, it outperforms Sora and is widely accessible to the public.
Ray2 benefits from Luma’s extensive 3D scan database, collected over five years, allowing for more realistic and detailed video outputs.
The Current State of AI-Generated Video
Wolfe highlights that while AI tools have become highly effective at producing short B-roll footage—typically between 5-10 seconds—they are still far from being capable of generating full-length, high-quality videos. The primary challenge remains the immense computational power and costs required for such complex outputs. However, for content creators, current AI-generated clips already serve as a valuable resource, as most professional B-roll sequences only last around 3-5 seconds.
AI-Powered Audio Tools
NotebookLM by Google
NotebookLM, Wolfe’s top choice for AI-driven audio content, is a free Google tool that allows users to upload and process content in various formats, including PDFs, website URLs, and direct text input. Once uploaded, the platform offers interactive ways to engage with the material.
One of its standout features is its ability to generate AI-driven podcast-style conversations. The tool simulates natural-sounding discussions between two AI hosts, making it feel like “two real people having a conversation.” A recently added feature allows users to interrupt these conversations, much like calling into a live radio show. When interrupted, the AI hosts respond in real-time, acknowledging the user by name (e.g., “Hey Matt, what’s on your mind?”) before seamlessly incorporating the new topic into their discussion.
The generated audio can be downloaded, enabling users to repurpose the content in different ways. Some creators have even built podcast channels using this tool by following a simple workflow:
- Collect information on a specific topic
- Upload the material to NotebookLM
- Generate a podcast episode
- Download the AI-created content
- Publish it via their RSS feed on platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts
ElevenLabs
According to Wolfe, ElevenLabs offers “the most realistic text-to-speech technology available.”
One of its key features allows users to train the AI on their own voice, making it especially useful for content creators who need to correct mistakes in their recordings. Wolfe shares an example where he misread a sponsorship script in a video. Instead of re-recording the entire segment, he simply typed out the correct script, had ElevenLabs generate the revised audio in his voice, and seamlessly overlaid it into the video.
The platform also includes a voice marketplace, where users can monetize their voice models. Other creators can license these voices, allowing the original voice owners to earn revenue.
Additionally, ElevenLabs offers a sound effects generator, allowing users to create specific sounds like a cat meowing, a door slamming, or an explosion in the distance. This eliminates the need to search through stock sound effect libraries.
Another notable feature is GenFM, which functions similarly to NotebookLM by allowing users to upload articles and transform them into AI-generated podcast episodes. While Wolfe believes NotebookLM currently does this better, GenFM remains a strong addition to ElevenLabs’ feature set.
Looking ahead, ElevenLabs plans to introduce AI-powered music generation to expand its creative capabilities even further.
Suno: AI-Powered Music Generation
For Wolfe, Suno is the best AI music-generation tool currently available. The platform offers two main ways to create music:
- Lyrics-Based Song Creation: Users can input their own lyrics, and Suno will generate a full song, complete with background instrumentation such as drums, guitars, and synths.
- Prompt-Based Music Generation: Alternatively, users can simply describe a theme, and Suno will create an entirely original song. Wolfe provides an example: “You can say, ‘Make a song about my dog Bowie and how he goes crazy running around in circles in my backyard,’ and Suno will generate a fun, fully-produced track based on that idea.”
For video creators, Suno also includes a “no lyrics” mode, which generates instrumental tracks ideal for background music. Instead of spending time browsing stock music libraries, Wolfe simply tells Suno the mood he wants, and the AI generates an instrumental track that fits the scene.