Pinar Yanardag receives NSF CAREER award to democratize video production with artificial intelligence

Today's artificial intelligence (AI) video generators are essentially black boxes. You type a prompt and hope for the best, but you have almost no control over camera angle, motion, or other specific details. 

With research supported by a $562,245 National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award, Pinar Yanardag, assistant professor in the Virginia Tech Department of Computer Science and core faculty at the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics, wants to open those black boxes to give users "director-like" control over AI video. 

The aim of the project is to democratize professional-level video production for all users. "A science teacher should be able to make a compelling visual the same way a Hollywood studio would, minus the budget," she said. "From educators to scientists to indie filmmakers, the goal is the same: turn an idea into a compelling visual story without specialized equipment or expertise."

The research, she said, offers the unique opportunity to mesh her two worlds as Emmy-nominated creative director of “Westworld 2020” and as an academic AI researcher. “Controls people want are already hiding inside these models," Yanardag said. "We don't have to build something new, we just have to unlock what's there to give them the ability to choose the camera angle, the motion, the shot without needing to be a technical expert and without the multimillion-dollar cost of retraining these models from scratch."