I am really pretty bummed today. I have always given Paul Ponna products a chance and I have even defended his products many times but now it is a problem that I personally can’t overlook. They have taken a political stance that removes the ability for free speech. Now, I certainly understand they are a business and can do what they want, but that doesn’t mean I can’t take my business elsewhere and provide a horrible review, regarding their terms of services
So a little back story –
I originally purchased stuff going back to their “Video Platform” that included Hotspot capabilities and scheduled videos. It worked well for a while but one day it couldn’t render a video. Evidently the servers were in the Ukraine and since there was a war going on, they couldn’t do anything about it. To make me happy again though, their support staff offered me their “Human Talk” voices so I could narrate my books or videos. I was a little disappointed but at least I came out with something. I gave them an A for effort.
So I continued to purchase services throughout the years including their last big packages. I purchased ClickSites, VideoExpress AI and TalkingPhotos AI. I was actually very happy with the products in the beginning because they worked pretty well and the products had pretty fast rendering. It was exciting to get all the updates too and the possibilities looked endless until about 30 days ago. I received a notice from TalkingPhotos AI support that indicated I needed to agree to the new terms and services, in order to continue using the product. Unlike a lot of people I actually read it.
The new terms and service, especially number 6 says basically, any sensitive material, even in fact, is prohibited. Any violations of the terms would terminate the use of the product without any refund. There is one big problem with that however, a big part of my business is political commentary, political YouTube channel, and political websites. All of a sudden, all of Paul Ponna’s products started changing their terms of service too, including the HumanTalk that replaced the VideoPlatform Suite that I originally got burned on.
It’s not like I create hate speech type stuff like the ProudBoys, etc. I could understand that position entirely. I’m talking about things that stir debate like, the factual commentary on a “Yale Law Professor saying Trumps 34 felonies was unconstitutional and violated the 6th amendment. Immediately everything I purchased, that I used on my platforms was violating their terms of service.
Here is how I know this has nothing to do with their company’s reputation, and it has everything to do with there personal stance in politics and other ideologies. Anything that is created in AI Talking Photos is original and unique and they are anonymous when used on a website or any platform. That means it only bothers Paul Ponna or the staff’s sensitivities. No one from the outside world would even know that TalkingPhotos was involved.
Again, I could understand if something I created could hurt their company or I was using the products to cover up illegal activity or fraud. I understand that entirely. However, to suppress or censor simply an opposing ideology because someone on the staff gets butthurt is a deal killer. In my opinion, why even create a company with AI talking head kind of stuff, that has been developed for the primary use of faceless channels, if all you are going to do is kick them off your platform due to censorship?
So under the new rules, I cannot recommend any Paul Ponna products anymore. If they decide to change their stance, I will change mine but until then, they get a F-. There are other inexpensive and great products that do the same thing and they aren’t being actively censored. Like Runway, Eleven Labs, Synthesys, etc. If your computer supports it, you can download Unreal Engine and create your own characters for free.
