Creating presentations with traditional software like PowerPoint, Google Slides, and Keynote is a familiar task for many. However, these conventional tools are now being challenged by AI-powered alternatives. 

Why? 

Because the latest AI presentation generators can now alleviate the challenges of finding the right visuals and interactive elements for your presentations.
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How can AI presentation generators improve the presentation creation process?

AI generators offer a blend of speed, customization, and intelligence. From auto-generating content to providing design suggestions, these smart AI tools streamline the process, allowing you to focus on crafting your story and making it more impactful. 

Here are some aspects that AI tools can automate: 

1. Convert MS Word into PowerPoint slides by analyzing the contents of your document and identifying the main points.
2. Refine the content to make it more presentation-friendly by breaking down paragraphs into digestible bullet points.
3. Generate content for moments when you lack ideas but only have the topic, where AI can assist with a draft of the slides and relevant content.
4. Suggest contextual templates and visuals relevant to your slides and the subject of the presentation. 
5. Recommend relevant visuals (illustrations, icons, or designs) that are relevant to your content. You can also use AI image generators like DALL-E or Midjourney for visuals. 
6. Adhere to brand guidelines across slides. You can upload your brand PPT template to the tool and save it as a theme for all your presentations. 
7. Enhance audience engagement by utilizing, for example, the color theory to resonate with audiences, as well as suggest font type and size.
8. ‍Live transcription powered by AI speech recognition reduces the manual effort required in the presentation’s transcription for future access.

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Comparison of popular AI tools for presentation

We tested out 4 AI presentation tools based on their ease of use, automated features, robustness of AI features, customizability of pre-built templates, and user experience.

Please note that user experience compared in the table below is restricted only to the 4 tools mentioned.

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Our recommendations

All the tools mentioned above can help you with your presentation needs. However, if you have specific needs, there’s a chance one tool would suit your needs better than the others. 

For example, if you are a beginner and looking for a variety of pre-built templates to simply edit the content, then Decktopus is the best option. For academic purposes, you should go for Sendsteps.ai. 
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Below are some more scenarios and our recommendations:

• AI presentation tool with superior AI capabilities: Beautiful.ai, Tome
• Presentation that requires integration with PowerPoint: Beautiful.ai - offers a dedicated add-in for PowerPoint
• Presentation where you need assistance to create content from scratch: Decktopus, Beautiful.ai
• Presentation where you need to use brand templates: Beautiful.ai - offers the option of creating multiple templates and switching between templates
• Presentation with requirements such as sales pitch, business proposals, project reports, quarterly updates, etc.: Decktopus - has more varied pre-built template options to explore
• Presentation where design aesthetics are a priority and requires frequent design tools like Figma: Tome - one of the best tools for design-heavy presentations
• Presentation where budget is important: Tome - offers a free account with 500 AI credits
• Presentation for webinars and trainings where audience engagement with survey and poll is a must: Sendsteps.ai
• ‍Presentation where you need to upload a Word document, PPT, or PDF for content: Sendsteps.ai

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Presentation creation process in Beautiful.AI

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Other tools that you might consider exploring: Kroma.ai, Pitch and Presentations.ai

Alternatively, you can even consider ChatGPT to further enhance your presentations. ChatGPT might not give you ready-made presentations, but it can provide recommendations and automate content generation to a large extent. You can:  

1. Run your slides through ChatGPT to refine the bullet points and analyze for effectiveness.
2. Get suggestions for visuals. Either ask ChatGPT for references or consider using AI image generators like DALL-E or Midjourney to create visuals. You can even ask it to generate prompts for Midjourney.

Read more: How to create presentations with ChatGPT?

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Presentation creation process in Tome

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Things to consider when using AI presentation generators

While AI tools are designed to make our lives and work easier, you need to recognize that AI is a tool to assist in the creative process, not a replacement for human intuition and empathy. Using AI tools is more about human-AI collaboration than simply relying on the result - You would need to balance automation with customization to reflect your unique voice and perspective. 

Below are a few points to consider: 

1. Data privacy and security: Uploading to a cloud service poses risks for your data, such as unauthorized access, data interception, or sharing of data with a third party. Ensure strong security by reading the privacy policy and data encryption measures. 
2. Quality and accuracy: AI content might not consistently align with your expectations or quality criteria. It might not understand the nuances of certain topics or even the sensitivity surrounding them, potentially leading to inaccuracies or oversimplifications.
3. Depersonalization: Even with the information provided, AI tools might generate generic content that lacks a personal touch or understanding of your specific audience, failing to engage with the audience.
4. Fair use or intellectual property concerns: If you are using an AI tool to create content for your presentation, ensure that the content is not copyrighted. 

For instance, in Tome, there is an option of “Reference” when you edit content. By clicking on it, you can check if the content is provided from the public domain or is under copyright. Similarly, ensure the stock images available in the library do not violate commercial usage copyright.

Read more: AI copyright challenges

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Limitations of using AI presentation generators

Despite the rapid advancements in AI technology, it's important to note that human perspective remains indispensable for final quality checks. 

At the moment, no AI presentation tool is advanced enough to deliver a fully polished presentation. This is especially relevant given that AI can sometimes produce off-mark suggestions or even "hallucinate" content.

Some other limitations of AI presentation tools are: 

• Customization: AI tools can tailor designs based on your prompts, but they might not always align with your exact vision. In such cases, reverting to traditional tools like PowerPoint or Google Slides may be necessary. Additionally, some AI presentation tools may limit you to their specific features, templates, and design capabilities.
• Subscription costs: Most AI presentation tools reserve their advanced features for subscribers. If you're not a subscriber, you might find that traditional platforms like MS PowerPoint or Google Slides offer better functionalities. 
• Learning curve: Even though these tools are designed to be user-friendly, these AI tools have a learning curve, particularly for those who are not accustomed to AI-driven platforms.
• Generic designs and stock images: Using AI tools for presentations carries the risk of generic designs, especially if many users opt for the same templates or styles. The options for stock images can also be quite limited, specifically for commercial use.

Despite all these limitations, AI presentation generators offer a compelling alternative to traditional platforms. It streamlines the design process and adds a layer of intelligence to slide creation. As these tools continue to evolve, the balance between automation and human input will be key to unlocking their full potential.

Have you used an AI presentation tool?

If so, let us know your thoughts here.

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