Tag Archives: science communication

Science Communication, Artificial Intelligence, and Hollywood

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This is the first post in a series about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and how it might help scientists be better communicators. In this post, I introduce the topic.

Consider this futuristic scenario:

4246476627_f40c638984_oA scientist is working on a grant proposal and must create a three-minute video synopsis of what she plans to do with the funding and how her research will benefit society. This video synopsis is one of the required components of proposals submitted to government funding agencies. She logs onto a platform in the Cloud and uploads video clips showing her and her team working in the laboratory and talking on camera about the potential applications of the proposed research. An AI (Artificial Intelligence) system analyzes all of the uploaded information, as well as millions of images, animations, and video clips in the public domain. Within minutes, the AI system has identified the key components necessary to address the stated goals of the funding opportunity and has produced a draft video of the required length that is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating. The scientist takes the draft video file and makes a few edits based on her knowledge of the field and potential reviewers. She renders the final video and attaches it to her application package, which she submits to the funding agency. Her proposal is funded, and the funding agency uses her video synopsis on their website to inform the public about the research they are supporting and how it may affect them.

Far-fetched? Perhaps not. Recently, I was watching an episode of GPS in which Fareed Zakaria interviewed the CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometti, and my ears perked up when they talked about an AI helping a film editor cut a movie trailer, reducing the time required from weeks to a day. The movie studio, 20th Century Fox, recently collaborated with IBM Research and its computer Watson to produce the first computer-generated movie trailer for the science fiction film Morgan, which is about, appropriately enough, an artificially enhanced human.

Watson was trained to “understand” what movie trailers are and then to select key scenes from the full-length movie to create a trailer that would appeal to movie-goers. A similar approach could be applied to scientific information to produce a video proposal that resonates with peer reviewers and panelists, as in the hypothetical example above….or a video abstract to inform the scientific community about a recent journal article. The idea here is that a busy scientist may one day be able to use AI to rapidly scan a vast storehouse of data—much faster and more thoroughly than a human—and then to suggest the best material and design for an information product such as a video.

AI is being considered as a way to enhance many activities involving the analysis of large amounts of data—such as in the medical or legal fields. Using AI to create movie trailers or science videos may seem to be a trivial goal compared to making a more accurate medical diagnosis; however, when you consider how important it is for science professionals to be good communicators, the idea seems worthwhile. In the coming posts, I’ll explore this topic further and provide a bit more detail about how IBM’s Watson was used to create a movie trailer.

This post is part of a series about Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential role in science communication. In the next post (part 2), I’ll provide more information about Watson, the computer.

Muddy Mangrove Movie-Fest

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mangrovemud_klmckeeIt was the third day of the conference, and we had just finished a walking tour of a local mangrove forest and shoreline at Ludmilla Bay, north of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Australia. Everyone was hot, thirsty, and sweaty as we filed into the air-conditioned auditorium at Charles Darwin University for the “Muddy Mangrove Movie-Fest”. We were about to be treated to a viewing of several videos made by researchers, conservation groups, and independent filmmakers–all focused on the topic of the conference–mangroves.

Earlier this month, I had traveled back to Australia to attend another meeting of the Australian Mangrove and Saltmarsh Network. The previous year I had been invited by the organizers to give one of the keynote talks. My presentation was titled “Communication Tools and Strategies for the 21st Century Scientist” in which I encouraged students and scientists to consider using the new media (blogs, video, social media, etc.) to share their work more widely within and beyond the scientific community.

Apparently, the attendees of the 2015 AMSN conference liked my message because they started planning a movie-fest for the next meeting that I was now attending in Darwin. The Muddy Mangrove Movie-Fest was opened by acknowledging me as the inspiration for it. I was thrilled to have been able to motivate others to go out and make videos about mangroves and mangrove research. Even better was to be present for the official screening of those videos at the 2016 AMSN conference.

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You can see the list of videos that were screened in the image at left. Not all of the Muddy Mangrove Movie-Fest videos are online, but some are. In fact, I had already seen and highlighted on this blog (Use Video to Share Your Dissertation) one of these videos (not knowing that it was to be featured at the Darwin conference).

I met the Ph.D. student, Mike Miloshis, featured in that video (Rise of the Mary River) at the Darwin conference earlier in the week. He came up and introduced himself and asked, “Aren’t you the Scientist Videographer?” I laughed and said that I certainly was. Then it hit me that I was talking to the student in the video I had critiqued on this blog.

As the lights dimmed and the first video began, I thought, “What a great idea–having a session at a science conference featuring videos created by attendees about their research.” Some of the videos were informative, some were inspirational, and some were funny. But the audience seemed to enjoy all of them. I know I did.

Here are the Muddy Mangrove Movie-Fest videos that are online (if anyone knows where the others are posted, please let me know):

Rise of the Mary River

Reducing the Risk of Disasters through Nature-Based Solutions: Mangroves

How to Get a Great Sediment Core

The Sinking State of Mangroves

Coastal Habitat Archive and Monitoring Program (CHAMP)

Try Tweeting A 30-Second Video of Your Science

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I recently posted this Tweet:filmyourscience

The idea is to encourage scientists to film some aspect of their research and share it through social media. Many scientists now have a smartphone that will shoot video. The incredible quality of phone cameras and ease of filming with them allow anyone to capture footage with minimal fuss. At the same time, some scientists and especially students are increasingly using Twitter to interact and share information.

I think that Twitter, which allows brief video clips (maximum length = 30 sec) along with a text message, is perfect for quickly sharing something you’re doing in the lab or an interesting observation you’ve made in the field. Using a hashtag (#FilmYourScience) helps identify tweets related to the topic.

I think such an effort has many benefits…for scientists as well as the scientific community.

  • Filming and sharing 30-second Tweets is a great way to learn how to shoot a video as well as to use social media to share science.
  • By learning to film and share videos of research, scientists will become more comfortable with the medium and see how effective video can be.
  • Sharing brief insights or observations via Twitter is an easy way to engage the public.
  • Showing what scientists do and where they work will help dispel some of the stereotypes about our profession.
  • Tweeting brief videos is a great way for a young researcher to increase their visibility and perhaps to find future collaborators.
  • Seeing and hearing about the various interesting things scientists do and where they work will encourage students to consider science as a career.

Here are brief instructions how to go about recording a video on a smartphone for a Tweet:

  1. Tap the Tweet icon to open a new message.
  2. Tap the camera icon.
  3. Tap the video icon, which will access the video camera.
  4. Record a video by holding down the record button. More clips can be added by pressing again. Record up to 30 seconds (you’ll get a warning when this limit is reached).
  5. Review clip by tapping it. Trim by dragging end bars. Reorder clips by dragging.
  6. Tap Done when finished.
  7. Add a text message to explain your video.
  8. Tap Tweet to share.

You can also import a previously recorded video from your device’s media library. These can be trimmed to 30 seconds in Twitter. To stop the video from autoplaying in your Twitter timeline, go to Settings>Data>Video>Video autoplay and change the setting.

Finally, here is a video tutorial showing how to attach a video to a Tweet (direct link):

Free Copies of The Scientist Videographer eBook Available at Smashwords

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In addition to Apple’s iBooks and Amazon’s Kindle, I’ve just published a copy of The Scientist Videographer at Smashwords. At the latter, you have the option to download the book as an ePub, pdf, Mobi, or txt file or to read it online.

For a limited time, I’m offering copies of the book at Smashwords free to anyone who agrees to review the book at any of the above distributors. All you have to do is send me a note that you agree (thescientistvideographer@gmail.com), and I will give you a promotional code to use when you check out. Already have a copy of my book? Consider writing a review and use the promotional code to give the book as a gift to a friend or colleague. This offer ends April 21, 2016.

Smashwords screenshot

Kindle Edition of The Scientist Videographer Now Available

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I’ve produced a text-only version of my book, The Scientist Videographer, which is now available at Amazon for Kindle. This Kindle version was created for those science professionals who do not have a device (iPad, iPhone, Mac) to read the iBooks version of my ebook. This new version has all the same information content as the iBooks version, but the interactive content (video, slideshows) is accessed through hyperlinks instead of being embedded in the book.

If you have a PC, you can also download the Kindle Reader app and view the book on your computer. The link to that app is on the main page for the book.

The Scientist Videographer-Kindle Version

Both the iBooks and Kindle versions contain new information and updated tutorials. For example, the iMovie editing tutorials have all been updated to reflect the most recent version of that software. I’ve also added a section called, “Should I Get Permission to Film”. If you have the iBooks original version, just open it in your iBooks reader and select “update”. The updated version (Version 1.2) will automatically replace the  original version (Version 1.0).