2 days ago
Create a PowerPoint With AI: How to Do It With Prezi AI
Have you ever spent hours perfecting a slide deck, only for it to be unused or be over the top? There's a way you can bypass working long hours and just whip something up in the theme you want, fast: use artificial intelligence. AI tools can be your best coworker in a bid to impress without burning out -- saving you hours of obsessing about presentations so you can focus on delivery, not design.
While Copilot in Microsoft PowerPoint is one choice, I also found a dedicated AI presentation maker.
What is Prezi?
Prezi AI was the tool I chose after a Google search for what to use to make a presentation. I liked that it sounded Aussie (we shorten the names of everything), and the pricing is accessible.
It has a free basic version and various tiers that range from $19 to $39 per month. I went with the mid-range, because the lowest tier didn't come with infographic capabilities. It's $29 per month with a 14-day free trial.
Prezi AI promises to create "your best presentation in minutes." Let's see about that.
Getting set up with Prezi AI
I signed up to Prezi AI Premium and put a reminder in my phone about the free trial end date.
I was prompted to enter information about the presentation, so Prezi AI could suggest content and design ideas. You can also upload a PDF, which can be helpful for the AI or skip this step for now and choose a template.
Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET
For the sake of this example, I pulled out some initial brainstorming work I did for a creative campaign that I wanted to present to an agency client. I used this text box to tell Prezi AI what I was looking to achieve.
First Prompt: "I want to professionally and creatively present my initial thinking on a campaign for Zayed National Museum in the UAE. I want to combine my notes with the strategist's notes so I can present my idea by telling a story and taking them on a journey. I prefer a minimalist, elegant design. Do you need me to upload the document?"
I quickly found out that it's not really an AI chat tool, because it generated a mock design without answering my question.
Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET
Instead, I saved all the notes into a PDF and re-created the prompt. Prezi AI only uses text content, so don't upload graphics or charts.
Refining and finalizing your AI slide deck
I liked how it created a "storyboard" presentation, but some of the imagery was off. For example, it had photos of Steve Jobs and the Bucket List movie with Morgan Freeman -- likely because it features a trip to Egypt, although still very off-brand for a UAE campaign.
An image of Steve Jobs was an odd pick for the AI tool.
Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET
I also added these two sentences to the original prompt: "Only use imagery from this website: Incorporate all of the text from the PDF and don't add more to it."
Again, it was way off brand, mostly because AI has a hard time understanding cultural sensitivities and nuances. It also even included an image from Pixar movie The Incredibles.
Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET
I didn't love the output, as it had a hard time following simple instructions like "only include the copy from the PDF," so I picked the one I preferred the most and edited it -- plugging in critical copy it missed and removing images.
How long does it take to make an AI presentation?
It took me about 30 minutes to make all the tweaks it needed, and while that wasn't ideal, it still would've taken me much longer to put together an initial deck like this. I would've agonized over the design.
It's certainly not perfect, but it's better than wasting precious time trying to do it from scratch.
Here's an example slide I didn't have to change:
Screenshot by Amanda Smith/CNET
I also liked how the slides move from one to the next, not just swiping to the right but interactively moving like along a map -- you can check it out here.
And the more you use AI programs, the more they learn about your style preferences, making the editing process easier each time. Just always make sure you check the words and images it produces.
Other AI tools for PowerPoint presentations
There are a lot of options out there, but here are some of the PowerPoint-compatible slide generators available. Most have a free tier, or a free trial:
