Well, it really comes down to what you're trying to achieve because each option does a slightly different job.

Your own people can be brilliant for anything story led, day in the life content, personal experiences, real perspectives. That's where authenticity really counts and audiences can tell when it's genuine. The flip side, non-actors can be less predictable. Not everyone's comfortable on camera, and it can take longer to get it right.

So for me, actors are often the most effective overall. They bring consistency, they're comfortable on camera, and they help land key messages clearly. They're especially useful for voiceover, but also for more structured or higher concept pieces where timing, tone or performance really matter. That can be anything from scenario lead storytelling to roles that involve action or specific environments, or even more stylised conceptual pieces where you need a certain level of control to bring the ideas to life. And yes, while they are acting, a strong performance can still feel natural and believable, sometimes even more so than someone who's not used to being on camera.

Now AI, AI is brilliant for speeding things up behind the scenes, but less so when it's pretending to be your people. That's where trust can start to slip. In our world, AI should be used to enhance and as a tool, not to generate fake employees.