I recently tested Synthesia, an AI text-to-video app, for our organization, Goodparty.org. We are not a political party; we help independents run and win in elections. Unfortunately, our experience with Synthesia was nothing short of frustrating and disappointing.
We created a simple test video with the following text:
Helping independents run and win.
We're not a political party – we're building a movement and free tech to end America's two-party political dysfunction.
Learn how you can plug in to inspiring independent campaigns or get access to our free tools for people-powered candidates.
To our dismay, the video was flagged and moderated for "violating their Disinformation & Misinformation: Political Content guidelines." Their message read:
Your video was moderated for violating our Disinformation & Misinformation: Political Content guidelines.
Your content could have been approved if produced with a Webcam or Custom Avatar.
Read the guidelines.
Firstly, our content is not political disinformation or misinformation. We are simply providing tools and support for independent candidates. The moderation decision was baseless and unjustified. When we reached out for clarification, the response was to "read the guidelines," which felt dismissive and unhelpful. We shouldn't have to jump through hoops for our content to be accepted, especially when it adheres to ethical standards and is factually accurate.
Moreover, Synthesia's pricing model is absurdly prohibitive. They charge $89 for just 30 minutes of video, and the prices skyrocket to over $2000 for an enterprise plan. For a service that fails to accurately moderate content and provides such poor customer support, these prices are utterly unjustifiable.
In summary, our experience with Synthesia was marked by poor moderation practices, unhelpful customer support, and outrageous pricing. We expected a smooth, user-friendly experience but instead encountered unnecessary hurdles and exorbitant costs. I cannot recommend Synthesia to anyone looking for a reliable and affordable AI text-to-video solution. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.