AI-generated television production in China

The debut of the AI-generated series ‘Post Journey to the West: Flower Fruit Mountain’ (also referred to as ‘Beyond Wukong’) on Hunan TV marks a significant shift in the Chinese entertainment industry from short-form AI content to long-form television production. The 30-episode series, with each episode lasting approximately 40 minutes, was produced with minimal human involvement in the creative execution by utilizing specialized AI models to control technical parameters like camera positioning and depth of field.

The production has seen immediate commercial success, surpassing 2 million views on Mango TV within one hour and leading ratings among provincial satellite channels. This efficiency has drastically reduced costs to approximately one-tenth of traditional blockbusters and shortened production timelines to as little as three months. Consequently, shares of Mango Excellent Media saw a significant increase in market value.

Despite the economic and technical achievements, the rise of such large-scale AI productions has sparked debate regarding the loss of human artistic input and the potential displacement of millions of jobs within the television industry.