On Thursday, Google unveiled updates to its video tool, Google Vids. The new features include creating custom digital avatars that mimic your appearance and voice, making it easier than ever for you to be the star of your own videos.

In addition, Gemini Omni, a multi-modal AI model, can now be integrated into Vids, allowing users to craft videos using text prompts and reference images. This means swapping out backgrounds or fixing lighting issues on-the-fly is now possible. Step-by-step edits make the process even more user-friendly.

The updated platform aims to go beyond its initial role as a workplace presentation tool by becoming an all-in-one video creation suite for both personal and business use. However, some might see this as stepping into direct competition with other AI video tools such as HeyGen, Synthesia, Captions, D-ID and more.

While the avatars are tied to users' Google accounts and watermarked with an invisible identifier called SynthID, there's a concern that this could pave the way for less ethical uses of the technology. Will we see absurd mash-ups or even parodies of well-known figures? Only time will tell.