Snapchat has unveiled a new artificial intelligence feature, the "Animate It" AI Lens, just in time for the holidays. Exclusively available to Lens+ subscribers, this innovative tool empowers users to generate unique, custom video animations within their Snaps simply by using text prompts. This development signifies a notable advancement in Snapchat's AI capabilities, offering a fresh and personalized way for users to create engaging content.
The "Animate It" Lens leverages Snap's internally developed AI video generation model to transform user ideas into short, shareable videos in mere seconds. As demonstrated by Snap, users can describe the animation they envision – for instance, "a cat pawing at your face" – and the Lens will generate a custom animation based on that prompt. This allows for a high degree of creative freedom, enabling users to animate reactions, conceptualize mini-movies, or turn playful concepts into dynamic clips, as detailed by Snap's official announcement:
"Available for Lens+ subscribers, the Animate It Lens leverages Snap’s internally developed AI video generation model to turn your ideas into short, shareable videos in seconds. Whether you want to animate a reaction, dream up a mini-movie, or turn a playful idea into a dynamic clip, Animate It allows you to create motion from pure imagination."
What makes "Animate It" particularly noteworthy is its reliance on Snap's proprietary AI video generation model. Up until now, Snapchat has largely depended on external AI tools for its various AI features. For example, its "My AI" chatbot utilizes large language models from OpenAI and Google to process text-based queries. The introduction of an in-house, custom AI model suggests a strategic shift, indicating that Snap is actively investing in and building its own artificial intelligence infrastructure. While developing AI independently can be challenging without extensive data infrastructure, this move highlights Snap's ambition in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.
This new Lens can be seen as an evolution of the earlier video AI Lenses that Snapchat first launched in March. Those initial Lenses offered custom animations of pre-selected characters or objects, such as raccoons, foxes, or spring flowers, which users could add to their clips. However, their customization options were limited to these specific choices. The "Animate It" Lens, by contrast, offers unparalleled flexibility, allowing users to generate virtually any animation they can describe through a text prompt, moving beyond predefined selections.
The capabilities of this new text-to-video AI system will be interesting to observe, especially given Snap's relatively newer foray into developing its own AI models. Nevertheless, "Animate It" represents a fun and engaging addition to the platform, potentially boosting user engagement and creativity, particularly during the upcoming holiday season. Its availability exclusively for Lens+ subscribers also adds value to Snapchat's premium offering.
