AInimation: Animating from Prompt to AI-Generated Responses

We explore the use of animated transitions between a prompt and an AI-generated response. After reviewing 800 examples of prompts and responses, we devise a taxonomy of animated transitions for multimodal text- and image-generative models. The proposed animations include translating and morphing elements of the prompt to their final location in the response; highlighting modifications such as fixed typos; overlaying structural requirements to verify them; and displaying how a model understands references. A study shows that adding animated transitions helps users review the response: participants performed 43% better at locating elements in the response; 153% better at identifying changes; and 20% better at verifying the prompt was correctly interpreted. Our work applies to all software that integrates AI and shows that well-crafted, slower animations are preferable to instant AI responses.