Not too long ago, If you wanted to make an explainer video for your business, you needed–at the bare minimum–a scriptwriter, voice over artist, editor, motion graphic animator, and a few weeks on your calendar. It wasn’t simple, quick, or cheap. But it worked pretty darn well.
And then came the flood.
A flurry of AI tools have flooded the marketplace – promising to cut lengthy production cycles into simple prompts and a few clicks. Some use avatars, others automate animation keyframes. All of them promise one thing: breakneck speed.
Too good to be true? Yes and no. While everyone seems to be super excited about access, more often than not, these tools fall short on narrative nuance. Think about the number of people on LinkedIn that say things like “That feels like AI”. Voices sound robotic, brand teams still hit creative walls – just faster.
And that’s exactly what we’ll be talking about in this blog. We’ll look past the hype to understand:
- Where AI Explainer video tools truly shine.
- The bottlenecks they solve
- Why human creativity is still the real differentiator
What are AI Explainer Videos?
AI Explainer Videos are videos that use artificial intelligence tools to assist in various stages of production such as scripting, voiceover generation, animation, editing, and localization.
The tools used to build these videos are designed to accelerate workflows and lower the barrier to production, making video creation faster and more scalable. But they are not one-click magic. The best results still come from combining machine speed with human storytelling insight.
If traditional explainer videos were built in production studios over weeks, AI-powered videos are crafted in-browser in a matter of hours, while still aiming to simplify complex topics into engaging, easy-to-understand narratives.
What’s Fuelling the Boom in AI Explainer Videos?
Over the past 18 months, the AI-powered video space has exploded. AI explainer video tools like Pika, Runway, HeyGen, Synthesia, and Animaker have poured into the market, each promising to “democratize video creation” and “eliminate creative bottlenecks.” In theory, that means fewer dependencies, faster production, and lower cost per asset.
The easy access to GenAi video tools explains why both ambitious startups with limited marketing budgets as well as multinational enterprises seeking efficiency at scale, are curious to try AI explainer videos. But wait, there’s a problem.
AI Explainer video examples on the internet today are quite underwhelming. You’ll see the same AI avatars, hear AI voiceovers that are plugged in with no refinements on emotion, and simple templatised animations. It’s understandable though. The tech-stack to build these is relatively new. But that doesn’t mean we have no way of understanding what it takes to build a great explainer video.
The Anatomy of an Effective Explainer Video
Every great explainer video has a few essential organs—story clarity, visual simplicity, narrative pacing, and a clear CTA. Let’s break down how this anatomy plays out using an example. When Infosys wanted to showcase its AI-first approach to software engineering, we flipped the typical case study on its head. Instead of showcasing tech dashboards and metrics, we placed the spotlight on their people—the engineers and architects behind the transformation.
Using a mixed-media approach, we blended motion graphics, real imagery, and narrative-driven scripting to celebrate the individuals driving change. The result? A human-centered explainer video that felt warm, insightful, and deeply aligned to Infosys’ brand voice.
The 2025 Creative Stack: AI Tools for Smarter Explainer Video Workflows
Creating a compelling explainer video used to involve weeks of scripting, casting, design, animation, voiceover, and post-production. In 2025, AI can help teams compress that cycle dramatically – without compromising on clarity or engagement, as long as you know which tools to leverage for each phase of production. Here’s how the modern stack shapes up:
1. Scriptwriting & Concept Development
This is ground zero for any explainer video. According to HubSpot’s 2024 AI Trends Report, 75% of marketers already use generative AI to brainstorm or script marketing content.
Top Tools:
- ChatGPT – most flexible and accessible tool in the stack, but requires strong prompting and continuous human refinement to get scripts that align with brand tone and narrative flow.
- Jasper – Optimized for crafting scripts around campaign thought and short-form formats.
- Copy.ai – Gives you access to templatised prompts that help refine script. For instance – tagline-worthy phrases, hooks, and content iterations.
Pro Insight: AI can take you from zero to first draft in minutes. But finessing tone, rhythm, and structure still needs human hands.
2. Voiceovers & Avatars
Great delivery is the backbone of great videos. Even more so for explainers. The tone, pacing, and clarity of the narration can turn a flat script into an engaging experience, or vice versa.
Top Tools:
- ElevenLabs – Known for realistic intonation and emotional nuance.
- Murf – Ideal for teams creating large volumes of instructional content.
- Synthesia – Combines voice with avatars, letting you produce presenter-led videos fast.
Pro Insight: Use AI voice for quick translations to aid localization. But go beyond the first output generated, and experiment with different expression refinement tags to nail the delivery.
3. AI Animation & Text-to-Video Builders
This is where your ideas take visual form. AI animation and text-to-video builders are beginning to reshape how explainer video motion is generated. In fact, A 2025 study from management consultancy firm Roland Berger, found that AI automation in rotoscoping alone can cut animation time by 20–65%, with up to 40% savings typical in genre-based production.
Top Tools:
- Runway, Pika Labs – Best for stylized, prompt-driven visuals.
- Vyond, Animoto – Drag-and-drop builders great for repeatable formats like product explainers and training videos.
Pro Insight: These tools accelerate motion design in a templatised format. However, for more intricate animation sequences such as ones that are character-led, they still need human-led storyboarding and fine-tuning nodes and expressions to smoothen the animations.
4. Editing, Versioning & Post-Production
Post-production is where speed meets polish – especially for explainer variants across regions or channels.
Top Tools:
- Descript – Lets you edit video like a doc. Great for VO corrections.
- Wisecut – Auto-edits long videos into punchy clips.
- Adobe Sensei – Powerful for adaptive editing and localization (source).
Pro Insight: These tools save hours in revisions, and cutdowns, but aren’t perfect. Final QA should still be human-led.
When done well, this is where AI can quietly save dozens of hours – especially in stakeholder review loops or rapid-fire A/B testing. Together, these tools help reduce turnaround time without sacrificing accuracy or clarity In fact, Deloitte found that AI-empowered content creators save an average of 12.2 hours per week.
Fork in the Road: When AI Works, and When It Doesn’t
We’ve all felt it. The instant you see an AI-generated explainer, you know. It’s the cadence. The polish. The spark that’s missing.
That’s because AI delivers speed, but not surprise.
In explainer videos, clarity is key—but charisma wins clicks. When stakes are low, AI gets the job done. But when the ask is brand-defining? Nothing replaces the nuance of human storytellers.
On Reddit, marketers and filmmakers have pointed out how AI visuals often feel like generic b-roll—technically correct, but emotionally vacant and narratively disconnected (r/Filmmakers). Others lament how dialogue written by AI, even after hours of prompting, lacks subtlety, relying on exposition and robotic structure (r/ChatGPT).
Common Pitfalls:
- Visual & Vocal Uniformity: Same avatars, same delivery. Can feel robotic.
- Script Flatness: Lacks storytelling arc, brand voice, or pacing.
- Brand Detachment: No real sense of craft or customization.
- Customization Gaps: Can’t handle motion graphics, complex data viz, or branded visual systems.
That’s why the real value comes when AI meets creative oversight. At Red Bangle, we use AI to accelerate, but not autopilot, creative workflows. The goal isn’t to remove the storyteller. It’s to remove the grunt work between them and the story.
AI Explainer Videos: What the Future Holds for Brand Teams
As we look toward the horizon of marketing communication, it’s clear that AI explainer videos aren’t simply a passing trend but a fundamental shift in how brands and agencies can craft explainer videos . The technology will continue to evolve, narrowing the gap between AI-generated and traditionally produced content while opening new creative possibilities we’ve yet to imagine.
For brand teams navigating this landscape, the key isn’t to choose between human creativity and artificial intelligence, but to understand how they can complement each other. The most successful will be those who learn to harness AI’s efficiency while preserving the human insight that makes communication truly resonate.
In the end, the goal remains unchanged: to connect with audiences through stories that inform, persuade, and inspire. AI is simply providing new tools to achieve this timeless objective. Tools that, when wielded with skill and intention, can help brands communicate more effectively than ever before.
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