# PaperTok: Exploring the Use of Generative AI for Creating Short-form Videos for Research Communication

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18218 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2601.18218/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 11 of its 55 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 26 Jan 2026.

## Builds on (most cited first, 11 of 11)

- [Growth rates of modern science: A latent piecewise growth curve approach to model publication numbers from established and new literature databases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2012.07675/) (2020)
- [Paper Plain: Making Medical Research Papers Approachable to Healthcare Consumers with Natural Language Processing](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00130/) (2022)
- [Scientists' Perspectives on the Potential for Generative AI in their Fields](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.01420/) (2023)
- [ReelFramer: Human-AI Co-Creation for News-to-Video Translation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.09653/) (2023)
- ["I'm categorizing LLM as a productivity tool": Examining ethics of LLM use in HCI research practices](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.19876/) (2024)
- [Evaluation of an LLM in Identifying Logical Fallacies: A Call for Rigor When Adopting LLMs in HCI Research](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.05213/) (2024)
- [Amuse: Human-AI Collaborative Songwriting with Multimodal Inspirations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2412.18940/) (2024)
- [Implicit Bias in LLMs: A Survey](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2503.02776/) (2025)
- [From Paper to Card: Transforming Design Implications with Generative AI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2403.08137/) (2024)
- [The role of twitter in the life cycle of a scientific publication](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1305.0435/) (2013)
- [Disseminating Research News in HCI: Perceived Hazards, How-To's, and Opportunities for Innovation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.04883/) (2020)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The dissemination of scholarly research is critical, yet researchers often lack the time and skills to create engaging content for popular media such as short-form videos. To address this gap, we explore the use of generative AI to help researchers transform their academic papers into accessible video content. Informed by a formative study with science communicators and content creators (N=8), we designed PaperTok, an end-to-end system that automates the initial creative labor by generating script options and corresponding audiovisual content from a source paper. Researchers can then refine based on their preferences with further prompting. A mixed-methods user study (N=18) and crowdsourced evaluation (N=100) demonstrate that PaperTok's workflow can help researchers create engaging and informative short-form videos. We also identified the need for more fine-grained controls in the creation process. To this end, we offer implications for future generative tools that support science outreach.