Meet the 'AI Team' Behind Addictive Chinese Micro-Dramas

Are you one of those hooked on watching Chinese dramas, or ‘dracins’? Recently, these short-form, vertical video series have been popping up all over social media.

These soap opera-style stories, which evoke strong emotions, have a compelling ‘hook’ that often keeps viewers eager to find out what happens next.

It turns out that artificial intelligence (AI) technology is also playing a key role in the production of these micro-dramas.

The Chinese short video drama industry is now at a stage where it relies on AI throughout its entire production process, from scriptwriting and scene creation to background music.

At least, that’s according to Chen Kun, the creator of the ultra-short video series ‘Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas’, which went viral with 50 million views. In ‘Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas’, almost all of the visual elements and storyline are generated by AI. Kun openly admits that AI plays a major role in his creative process.

In fact, he has an ‘AI team’, consisting of several different tools, each of which has a specific role in producing the entire story. For example, he uses ChatGPT to write scripts. Then, for creating static images, Kun chooses Midjourney AI. He then uses Kling AI to turn the images into videos. Finally, Kun uses Suno AI to create background music and theme songs. Humans are only involved in the editing and voiceover stages.

With this combination of four AI models, Kun created ‘Strange Mirror of Mountains and Seas’, a fantasy micro-drama featuring a handsome and lifelike main character, realistic landscapes and seas, and monsters that resemble dragons. According to Chen, Chinese micro-dramas are the most suitable format for AI experimentation. The small screen size and short duration make viewers more likely to overlook visual details that are stiff or imperfect.