How Viral Vlogs Are Making Money and Shaping the Future of Video

You’ve probably seen them. A Stormtrooper, holding his helmet cam like a seasoned vlogger, complains about his clumsy squadmate “Greg” during a patrol on Endor.¹ Or maybe you’ve seen the serene, influencer-style Yeti, offering life advice from his snowy mountain cave.²

These short, surreal clips are taking over social media, racking up millions of views and hundreds of thousands of followers.³ But they’re more than just a funny trend. They are the public’s first real taste of a new era in filmmaking, where anyone with a good idea can become an animator, director, and producer, all from their laptop.

This isn’t magic; it’s a new wave of AI video tools that can turn a simple text prompt into a moving scene in seconds. But behind the viral success lies a digital wild west of creative challenges, legal risks, and a surprisingly clear path to making real money. Let’s break down how it all works, what goes wrong, and where the real opportunity lies.

The Secret Formula of a Viral AI Hit

The success of these AI vlogs isn’t random. It comes down to a couple of clever storytelling formulas that perfectly match what AI video can (and can’t) do right now.

1. The Stormtrooper: Humanizing the Faceless

The genius of the Stormtrooper vlogs is simple: they take an anonymous, disposable character from a universe we all know and give him the mundane problems of a 9-to-5 job. He’s not fighting epic battles; he’s dealing with faulty equipment and an incompetent coworker. It’s a classic comedy trick that makes the character instantly relatable.

The creator also made a brilliant technical choice: the helmet. One of the biggest struggles for AI video is character consistency—making a character look exactly the same from one clip to the next. Faces, in particular, are hard for AI to get right. By using a character with a mask, the creator cleverly sidesteps this problem, making the Stormtrooper easy for the AI to render consistently.

2. The Yeti: Making the Mythical Mundane

The Yeti vlogs use the opposite formula. They take a mythical, extraordinary creature and have him do ordinary human things, like giving motivational speeches or talking about his day. The humor comes from the absurd contrast.

This approach turns the character into a recurring “influencer,” building a loyal following with episodic content.⁴ Unlike the Stormtrooper, however, the Yeti has a face, which presents a much bigger challenge for the creator. Keeping the Yeti’s fur, tusks, and eyes consistent across dozens of videos is a technical feat that requires a lot of skill and the right tools.

The AI Director’s Toolkit

So, how are these videos actually made? It’s a multi-step process using a few key AI tools:

1. The Script (ChatGPT): The process starts with a script. Creators often use tools like ChatGPT as a writing partner to brainstorm ideas, develop a character’s personality, and write the dialogue.⁶
2. The Voice (ElevenLabs): A character needs a voice. ElevenLabs is the go-to tool for creating custom AI voices or cloning your own voice to give your character a unique and consistent sound across all videos.⁷
3. The Video (Runway, Pika, Google Veo): This is where the magic happens. Creators feed their script and character descriptions into text-to-video generators. Tools like Google Veo 3 are great for cinematic, realistic clips with sound.⁸Runway offers more directorial control, allowing you to “paint” motion onto a still image.⁹Pika Labs is user-friendly and known for its fun, creative effects.¹⁰
4. The Edit (CapCut): Since AI tools generate short clips (usually 5-16 seconds), creators use a simple video editor like CapCut to stitch them together, add the voiceover, and layer in music and sound effects.¹¹

The Pitfalls: Copyright Nightmares and the Uncanny Valley

This new creative frontier is exciting, but it’s filled with traps for the unwary.

The biggest risk is copyright infringement. The Stormtrooper vlogs are wildly popular, but they use a character owned by Disney—a company famous for protecting its intellectual property. Disney is already part of a lawsuit against AI image generator Midjourney for this very reason, specifically mentioning characters like Darth Vader.¹² Using well-known characters is a shortcut to getting noticed, but it could lead to takedown notices or legal trouble, especially if you’re making money from it.

Another challenge is the “uncanny valley.” This is the creepy feeling you get when something looks almost human, but not quite. It’s why realistic AI-generated people can sometimes be unsettling. The most successful creators avoid this by either using non-human characters (like the Yeti) or embracing a stylized, surreal look instead of chasing perfect realism.

The Success: How to Actually Make Money with AI Video

Despite the challenges, there’s a real opportunity to build a business with AI video. Here are the main ways creators are earning money:

• Platform Payouts (The Hard Way): YouTube and TikTok will pay for AI-generated videos, but there’s a catch. They are cracking down on “low-effort,” automated content. To get monetized, your videos need to show real human creativity—a unique concept, original script, and significant editing. The Stormtrooper and Yeti vlogs are great examples of this “high-effort” approach.¹³
• Brand Partnerships (The Smart Way): As brands like Heinz and DoorDash start using AI for their own ads, they’re looking to partner with popular AI creators.¹⁴ An account with a large, engaged following can become an “AI ad agency,” creating sponsored content for companies.
• Original Characters (The Sustainable Way): The safest and most profitable long-term strategy is to create your own original characters. The Yeti is a better business model than the Stormtrooper because no one owns the copyright to a generic mythical creature. By creating an original character, you can build a brand, sell merchandise, and license your IP without the legal risks.¹⁵

The path from a funny idea to a profitable channel is clear: success in AI video isn’t about pushing a button. It’s about blending human creativity—great writing, humor, and a compelling story—with the incredible power of these new tools. The AI might be the camera and the cast, but you still need to be the director.