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foundations · Level 1

Make YouTube videos with AI: a beginner's workflow

From idea to published video: research, script, voiceover, visuals, captions, upload and a 30-day plan, with honesty and safety built in.

By Mickarle Wagstaff-Irons - Micky Irons

  • Level 1Starting out
  • 140 min
  • 7 chapters
  • Free PDF, no account
Download free PDF (PDF, 1.5 MB)
The Aperturefoundations / 01

Start with the essentials

The short answer

Start with one viewer and one promise. Use AI to research, outline and tighten a script whose facts you have checked yourself. Record your own voice or use a synthetic one you are allowed to use. Use visuals whose licence you understand, review your captions, and disclose realistic AI-made content as YouTube's current policy requires. Publish steadily, then learn from your analytics.

What you will learn

  • You will be able to define a viewer and a promise for every video you make.
  • You will know how to use AI for research and scripting while checking every fact yourself.
  • You will be able to choose voiceover and visuals you have the right to use, and to keep a rights record.
  • You will understand, in general terms, YouTube's rules on disclosing AI content and on repetitive content, and where to re-check them.
  • You will be able to package and upload a video, and read the basic analytics.
  • You will have a 30-day publishing plan.

Who it is for

Anyone who wants to start a YouTube channel, or improve one, using free or low-cost AI tools. No video experience is needed. A phone is enough to begin.

Before you start

  • None. It helps to have read Your first prompts and The free AI toolkit. You will need a YouTube account to upload, but you can do every planning exercise without one.

Keep learning

The complete workbook

This workbook walks you through making a YouTube video with AI, from the first idea to reading your analytics. You will learn to research and fact-check, write a script that holds attention, choose voiceover and visuals you have the right to use, package your video, and follow YouTube's current rules on AI disclosure and repetitive content. It ends with a 30-day publishing plan.

  1. 01
    Idea and audience

    Great videos start before you open any tool. Decide who the video is for and what it will give them.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  2. 02
    Research you can trust

    AI can speed up research, but it cannot be your source of truth. Your name is on the video, so the facts are your responsibility.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  3. 03
    The script: hook, structure, retention

    A script is not an essay. It is written to be heard, and its job is to keep viewers watching because the video keeps its promise.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  4. 04
    Voiceover and visuals: what you may use

    Every voice, image, clip and sound in your video has an owner, a licence or a set of rules. Knowing which keeps your channel safe.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  5. 05
    Editing, captions, titles and thumbnails

    This is the packaging stage. Clear editing and honest packaging help the right viewers find your video and stay with it.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  6. 06
    Upload, disclose and stay within the rules

    Many publishing problems are easy to avoid if you know the rules in advance.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise
  7. 07
    Analytics, and your 30-day plan

    Publishing is the start of learning, not the end. A few numbers, read patiently, will tell you what to do next.

    In the workbook · 1 exercise

Also inside: a 9-point checklist, a glossary of 11 terms and 10 questions and answers to test yourself. 7 hands-on exercises, each with a worked answer at the back where the workbook gives one.

Download all 7 chapters as PDF (PDF, 1.5 MB)

No login, no card, no account. Before the download we ask you to follow Mickai (two quick links). Free to download and use for personal learning, study groups and inside your own team. Please do not resell the workbooks or republish them as your own. Link people to trust-agent.ai instead.

Test yourself

Questions and answers

Do I have to tell viewers when I use AI in a video?

YouTube requires disclosure when you use AI to meaningfully alter or generate photorealistic content that viewers could mistake for real. Non-realistic content and minor production help, such as scripts or captions, do not. Read YouTube's live Help page and follow it, as wording can change.

Can I earn money from AI-assisted videos?

You can be eligible if you follow the YouTube Partner Program rules. Mass-produced, generic or repetitive content is not eligible. Aim for your own insight, real variety and value to viewers. AI is a tool you use, not a substitute for your own contribution. Check the live monetisation policy.

Is it acceptable to use an AI voice for narration?

Often, if the tool's terms allow your use, the voice is not a copy of a real person and you follow YouTube's rules. Clone a voice only if it is your own or you have clear permission. Being open about synthetic narration builds trust.

Can I clone a celebrity's or friend's voice or face?

No, not without their clear permission, and be very careful even then. Making a real person appear to say or do something they did not is deceptive and can cause harm. YouTube's policies also address impersonation and let people request removal of AI content that mimics them.

Can I use AI-generated images and clips?

Yes, subject to the tool's terms on ownership and commercial use, and provided they do not copy real people, brands or other people's work. Keep a note of the tool, the date and the terms. Realistic depictions of things that did not happen may need disclosure.

Is YouTube's free music library safe to use?

YouTube says music and sound effects from its Audio Library are copyright-safe, and some tracks need a credit in your description. Check each track's requirement. YouTube says it is not responsible for problems with music from other sources, so check those licences yourself.

Should I trust automatic captions?

Not without checking. YouTube says automatic captions can misrepresent speech because of accents, background noise or mispronunciations, and it tells creators to review and edit them. Correct them before or soon after publishing.

How do I know whether a fact from an AI is true?

You do not, until you check. Chatbots can invent facts, quotes and sources. Find each claim in a trustworthy source you have opened yourself, note it, and cut anything you cannot verify. You are responsible for what your video says.

How often should I publish?

At a pace you can keep without lowering quality. Three well-made videos in a month is a sound beginner goal. Near-identical videos in bulk are what YouTube's inauthentic content policy targets, so focus on variety and value rather than volume.

Which analytics should a beginner watch?

Start with impressions, impressions click-through rate, average view duration and the audience retention report for each video. Give a video time before judging it, avoid reacting to small changes, and compare it with your own earlier videos.

When you have finished

Get your certificate of completion

Type your name and download a certificate for this workbook as a PDF, ready to print or to add to LinkedIn. It is made on your own device, so your name is never sent to us. It is a self-declared certificate, not an accredited qualification.

Make my certificate

Learn the language

Key terms

Hook
The opening seconds of a video, which show the viewer what they will get or the problem it solves.
Promise
One sentence saying what a viewer will be able to do or understand by the end of the video.
Audience retention
A measure of how much of your video viewers watch, shown moment by moment for each video in YouTube Studio.
Synthetic voice
A voice produced by software from written text, rather than recorded from a person speaking.
Voice cloning
Using AI to imitate a specific person's real voice. Do it only with your own voice or with that person's clear permission.
Licence
The permission an owner gives that sets out how you may use their content, for example whether you need to give credit.

6 of the workbook's 11 terms. The complete glossary is in the workbook.

Follow the evidence

Sources and checks

Facts last checked: .

These workbooks use AI assistance. See how the workbooks are made.

  1. Disclosing use of GenAI contentYouTube Help
  2. YouTube channel monetization policiesYouTube Help
  3. Impersonation policyYouTube Help
  4. Set your channel or video's audienceYouTube Help
  5. License types on YouTubeYouTube Help
  6. Use music and sound effects from the Audio LibraryYouTube Help
  7. Use automatic captioningYouTube Help
  8. Learn more about YouTube CreateYouTube Help
  9. Impressions and click-through-rate FAQsYouTube Help
  10. Measure key moments for audience retentionYouTube Help

Created by Mickarle Wagstaff-Irons - Micky Irons with the Mickai team. Published by Mickai LTD. Last updated 25 September 2026.

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