How AI Art Accelerates Educational Games at Age of Learning - Scenario Case Study

Age of Learning - How AI Art Accelerates Educational Games at Age of Learning

Industry: EdTech

Published: November 14, 2024

Age of Learning used Scenario to produce educational visuals at scale, empowering artists and maintaining quality.

Tags: EdTech, AI Art Generation, Content Creation, Curriculum Development

Age of Learning stands as a leader in educational technology, developing **interactive games** that teach foundational skills such as the alphabet, basic math, and critical thinking to millions of children worldwide. Led by **VP of Creative Chris Leavens**, whose background spans from Disney's top-ranking mobile apps to innovative educational platforms, the company has built a reputation for combining pedagogical excellence with engaging visual storytelling.

Chris brings a unique perspective to **educational game development**, having created the number one and number two apps in the App Store's kids category during his tenure at Disney, including the first Frozen storybook app and Sophia the First interactive experiences. His journey from freelance illustrator to creative leadership at major studios like Disney and TinySpeck has shaped Age of Learning's approach to balancing artistic vision with scalable production needs.

With hundreds of educational datasets in active development, each requiring 5 to 25 visually cohesive illustrations, Age of Learning needed a solution that could maintain their high artistic standards while dramatically increasing production velocity.

Age of Learning faced a fundamental challenge that many **content creators** encounter: the need to produce massive volumes of high-quality visual content without compromising educational effectiveness or artistic integrity. Each educational game required carefully crafted datasets of illustrations - from animals and fruits to objects and characters - all maintaining **visual consistency** with the game's established art style.

The traditional production pipeline created significant bottlenecks. Artists worked under tight deadlines to create hundreds of individual illustrations, while curriculum experts who authored the educational content had to wait for artwork completion before they could test or iterate on their educational concepts. This back-and-forth process slowed down the entire development cycle, making it difficult to respond quickly to educational insights or market demands.

The challenge was particularly acute because educational games require a different approach than entertainment titles. Every visual element must support learning objectives while remaining engaging and age-appropriate. The team needed a solution that could scale their visual production without sacrificing the pedagogical precision that makes their educational content effective.

Age of Learning chose Scenario to revolutionize their visual content creation process, integrating the AI platform directly into their **educational game development pipeline**. The decision was driven by Scenario's unique approach to maintaining creative control while dramatically accelerating production timelines.

Chris Leavens, drawing from his experience creating top-performing apps at Disney, recognized that Scenario offered something different from other AI art tools. "There's a tool that's based on stable diffusion called Scenario. Everybody can have their own opinions about AI, but I find this use case - the ability to amplify your own work - it's pretty powerful," he explains.

The implementation began with Age of Learning training Scenario's AI models on carefully curated sets of illustrations created by their artists. This process ensured that generated visuals aligned perfectly with the established visual identity of their educational games, maintaining the quality standards that parents and educators expect from Age of Learning products.

By training Scenario's AI models exclusively on their proprietary art assets, Age of Learning ensures that every generated image maintains their signature visual identity. This custom model training approach delivers **remarkable consistency** - new characters, objects, and scenes seamlessly integrate with existing educational content while preserving the pedagogical clarity essential for young learners.

What made Scenario particularly valuable was its ability to **democratize content creation** within the team. Curriculum experts who previously had to rely on lengthy approval cycles with the art team could now generate the visuals they needed directly. By inputting their educational concepts into the platform, they could instantly produce corresponding illustrations that matched the game's art style, enabling rapid iteration and testing of educational content.

With **12 team members** - artists, creators, and curriculum experts - actively collaborating on their Scenario workspace, Age of Learning has transformed their content creation process into a truly **collaborative effort**. This multi-disciplinary approach allows educational content specialists to work directly alongside visual artists, streamlining the traditionally complex workflow between pedagogical design and visual execution.

The integration of Scenario transformed Age of Learning's production workflow in ways that directly impacted their ability to create effective educational experiences. The most significant change was the dramatic reduction in production bottlenecks that had previously slowed curriculum development.

Curriculum experts gained unprecedented autonomy in visual content creation, allowing them to test educational concepts immediately rather than waiting for art team availability. This rapid iteration capability proved crucial for educational content, where small visual adjustments can significantly impact learning effectiveness. The team could now experiment with different visual approaches to teaching concepts, quickly identifying which illustrations best supported student comprehension and engagement.

The streamlined process allowed artists to focus their expertise where it mattered most - creating innovative visual frameworks and complex character designs that would define each educational experience. Rather than spending time on repetitive asset creation, they could concentrate on the creative decisions that would make the biggest impact on learning outcomes.

The ability to amplify your own work - it's pretty powerful.

The platform's ability to maintain **visual consistency** across hundreds of illustrations proved particularly valuable for educational games, where consistent visual language helps students focus on learning rather than being distracted by stylistic variations. This consistency, combined with the speed of production, enabled Age of Learning to create more comprehensive educational experiences with richer visual content.

Age of Learning's implementation of Scenario represents more than just a production efficiency gain - it demonstrates how AI can enhance educational content creation when implemented thoughtfully. By maintaining artist control over style and quality while empowering curriculum experts to create visual content directly, the platform has enabled a more collaborative and responsive approach to **educational game development**.

The success of this integration lies in its alignment with Age of Learning's core mission: creating educational experiences that truly serve learners. The faster production cycles mean that educational insights can be implemented more quickly, leading to more effective learning outcomes. The **visual consistency** ensures that students can focus on educational content rather than being distracted by inconsistent artwork.

Chris Leavens' perspective, shaped by his experience creating top-performing educational apps at Disney, emphasizes the importance of using AI as a tool for amplification rather than replacement. This approach demonstrates how technology can be integrated into creative workflows in ways that enhance both efficiency and educational effectiveness, setting new standards for the educational technology industry.

Age of Learning is a major educational technology company and creator of **ABCmouse**, one of the most successful early learning platforms in the world. Serving **millions of children globally**, Age of Learning has established itself as a dominant force in digital education, with their flagship product ABCmouse reaching households across multiple countries and languages. As a publicly-traded company that has raised hundreds of millions in funding, Age of Learning operates at massive scale, processing educational content for millions of active users daily. With a team that combines educational expertise with cutting-edge technology, the company continues to set industry standards for digital learning experiences, making them one of the most influential players in the **$350+ billion global education market**.

Transform your educational content creation like Age of Learning. Discover how Scenario can accelerate your creative workflow while maintaining quality standards.