In the last 3 years I've spent most of my time learning skills to improve my visual art for scientific animation. At this point it's pretty obvious that very soon AI will be much better than I am, which is equally terrifying and incredible.
It's incredible because I can't wait to see what academia would look like when the barrier for effective visual communication is lowered. Every publication will be accompanied by useful and elegant animations that communicate findings efficiently. In today's attention economy, this isn't just nice to have - it's revolutionary.
Sure, manually crafted art might become a luxury rather than necessity. Technical skills will be less appreciated. But I'm not here to cry about the dangers of AI. I'm here to talk about how we can ride this wave instead of drowning under it.
Here's what I mean:
About 8 years ago I tried to learn programming as a side hobby. I researched languages, collected tutorials, set up environments - but nothing came out of it. The barrier was just too high for a low commitment hobby.
Cut to 8 weeks ago. This time I came armed with Claude.AI as my personal tutor.
The difference was mind-blowing. I tell Claude what I want to build, it guides me through the steps, writes the scripts and explains how they work. After just two projects I already have enough understanding to build similar programs on my own. More importantly, I'm actually excited to dive into more complicated stuff.
an early test you can try here: User interface exploration
(warning: could use a lot of mobile data while loading).
So what does this have to do with being replaced by AI animation?
Well, by combining my animation skills with my new programming abilities, I've developed something new - Interactive Explainers. Instead of just creating standard explainer videos, I can now offer clients a tailor-made interactive experience for their websites and social media.
I just finished a demo for a client's Nature paper about a bioelastic device. Instead of passively watching a video, researchers can:
Choose what parts of the device they want to explore
Actually operate the mechanism in their browser
See real-time force diagrams during operation
And that's just the beginning.
This is just me - one person combining 3D animation and game engines. Imagine what an entire generation of AI-powered humans could create.
We can live in fear of AI causing mass unemployment, or we can pick up a keyboard and break from our shells to see where we fit in this crazy new world.
Maybe the future belongs to the machines and there's no room in it for humans. But if there are humans in this future - I bet they're generalists, not specialists.
If you're interested in scientific animations (or interactive experiences) don't hesitate to visit our website or contact us directly.
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