Until recently, making a hit microdrama — the soapy, short-form, made-for-mobile shows that have become wildly popular in China — meant hiring actors, renting sets and spending weeks filming and editing.

直到最近，制作一部热门微短剧——即在中国风靡一时的狗血剧情、短小、专为手机打造的剧集——还意味着需要雇佣演员、租赁场地，并花费数周时间进行拍摄和剪辑。

Now, some Chinese companies are churning them out for $30 a minute, with no cameras, no crew and no human performers.

如今，一些中国公司在没有摄像机、没有剧组、也没有真人演员的情况下，正以每分钟30美元（约合人民币200元）的成本成批生产这类剧集。

That’s thanks to artificial intelligence.

这得益于人工智能。

Dramas generated by the technology have suddenly become ubiquitous in China: In March alone, nearly 50,000 new A.I.-generated microdramas were uploaded to Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, according to DataEye, a Chinese consulting firm. That single month’s uploads nearly matched the platform’s total uploads for all of 2025.

依托该技术生成的微短剧在中国突然变得无处不在：据中国咨询公司DataEye的数据，仅在3月份，就有近5万部全新的AI生成微短剧被上传到抖音。单是这一个月的上传量，就几乎赶上了该平台2025年全年的总上传量。

The boom is being fueled by the widespread availability and increasing prowess of A.I. video tools, including Seedance 2.0, which was released in February by the Chinese parent company of TikTok. Production companies have been testing what these models can do, creating experimental clips of Chinese warriors in combat, an apocalypse or an idyllic countryside river.

这一热潮受到了AI视频工具广泛普及和能力日益增强的推动，其中包括TikTok的中国母公司于2月份发布的Seedance 2.0。影视制作公司一直在测试这些模型的能力，创作了中国武士激战、末日世界或田园乡村河流等实验性片段。

Most A.I.-generated microdramas, which under Chinese law are required to be labeled as such, attract little attention. But some clips have racked up hundreds of millions of views, in a country where people are generally more optimistic about A.I. than in the West. The Chinese market for A.I. microdramas is expected to be worth more than $3 billion this year, according to Chinese state media, out of a more than $14 billion market for microdramas in general.

根据中国法律，AI生成的微短剧需要贴上相应标签，这些剧集大多引不起太多关注。但在一个公众普遍对AI持有比西方更乐观的态度的国家，一些片段已经斩获了数亿次的播放量。据中国官方媒体报道，在超过140亿美元的微短剧整体市场中，今年中国AI微短剧的市场价值预计将超过30亿美元。

But recently, the surge has also set off an outcry in China. Actors say their work opportunities have dried up. Celebrities and ordinary people alike have threatened legal action after discovering their likenesses in A.I.-generated microdramas. (ByteDance has since introduced restrictions on using real people’s faces in Seedance.)

但近期，这一激增势头也在中国引发了强烈抗议。演员们表示他们的工作机会已经枯竭。许多名人和普通人在发现自己的肖像被用于AI生成的微短剧后，纷纷威胁要采取法律行动。（此后，字节跳动已对在Seedance中使用真人面孔做出了限制。）

We spoke to several people in China’s entertainment industry to hear how A.I. has changed their lives.

我们采访了中国娱乐行业的几位业内人士，听他们讲述了AI如何改变了他们的生活。

The Actor

演员

Li Jiao’e, 32

李焦尔，32岁

Li Jiao’e, via Douyin

When Li Jiao’e moved to Hengdian, a major filming hub in eastern China, in 2024, he had only bit parts in microdramas. Still, he was thrilled. After years of bouncing between unrelated jobs, he was finally chasing his dream of being an actor.

2024年搬到中国东部的重要影视基地横店时，Wang Yushun knew the importance of budgets in filmmaking. Before becoming a microdrama director, he had made television dramas and independent films, and he had seen projects that he had worked on for months or even years derailed by a skittish investor. Part of the reason he had turned to the shorter format — microdrama episodes are usually one or two minutes long — was for the quick returns.

王玉顺（音）深知预算在电影制作中的重要性。在成为一名微短剧导演之前，他曾拍摄过电视剧和独立电影，并且亲眼目睹过自己付出了数月甚至数年心血的项目因投资人临阵退缩而夭折。他转向这种较短形式（微短剧每集通常只有一两分钟长）的部分原因就是为了能够快速获得回报。

Still, when A.I. tools first became popular several years ago, he was skeptical of their quality, even as he saw how they could help him save money. He used them mostly to create mood boards, he said.

尽管如此，当几年前AI工具刚开始流行时，他对它们的质量仍然持怀疑态度，即使他看到了这些工具如何能帮他省钱。他说，他当时主要用它们来制作“情绪板”。

But last summer, he changed his mind. When he asked an A.I. tool to generate a scene of a horse charging into a trench to rescue a general, the result was far more detailed than he had expected or even asked for, including the horse crashing into an enemy soldier, the soldier falling and the general galloping away.

但在去年夏天，他改变了主意。当他让一个AI工具生成一个“骏马冲进战壕营救将军”的场景时，结果比他预期甚至要求的还要详细得多，包括马撞向敌方士兵、士兵倒地以及将军疾驰而去的画面。

“I thought to myself, ‘Wow, this technology may really be able to replace some of the more difficult or expensive scenes,’” he recalled.

“我当时心想，‘哇，这项技术可能真的能够取代一些难度更大或成本更高的场景，’”他回忆道。

Since then, he has adopted A.I. extensively for visual effects, and started a company that makes A.I. microdramas in addition to ones using actors.

从那时起，他开始在视觉特效中广泛采用AI，并创办了一家除拍摄真人演员外，还制作AI微短剧的公司。

Still, Mr. Wang also has concerns about the industry’s rapid pivot to A.I. He has had to lay off employees who worked on live-action productions because demand for such content has fallen so precipitously. Turning to A.I. has been more a necessity than a choice, he said.

不过，王先生对该行业迅速转向AI也有所担忧。由于对真人内容的需求急剧下降，他不得不解雇了从事真人影视制作的员工。他说，转向AI更多的是一种被迫的选择，而不是一种自愿的决定。

He hopes to make projects that combine A.I. with live action. He is working on a project that he said is similar to “Stuart Little,” the film that featured an animated mouse alongside real actors.

他希望制作将AI与真人实景相结合的项目。他正在筹备一个项目，他说这个项目类似于《精灵鼠小弟》，也就是那部让一只动画老鼠与真人演员共同出镜的电影。

“If we could feel the warmth of a real performance, and also see the power of A.I. technology, I think that would be great,” he said.

“如果我们既能感受到真人表演的温度，又能看到AI技术的威力，我认为那就太棒了，”他说。

The Production Company Founder

制作公司创始人

Hou Xiaohu, 40

侯小虎，40岁

When Hou Xiaohu started a company that used A.I. to make videos two years ago, the technology was only good enough for corporate promotional videos. But last year, as A.I. video tools improved, and demand for microdramas was exploding, he shifted focus.

两年前，当侯小虎（音）创办一家利用AI制作视频的公司时，这项技术还只够用来制作企业宣传片。但去年，随着AI视频工具的改进以及微短剧需求的爆发式增长，他转变了业务重心。

Mr. Hou now has about a dozen employees, divided between creative work, similar to traditional screenwriting and directing, and the technical work of generating A.I. footage. His company focuses on stories involving traditional narratives, such as the story of a folk sea goddess or a superhero monk.

侯先生现在拥有大约十几名员工，分为从事类似于传统编剧和导演的创意工作组，以及生成AI镜头的技术工作组。他的公司专注于包含传统叙事的故事，例如民间的海神或神僧的故事。

Some of Mr. Hou’s creative employees have backgrounds in filmmaking, but others are simply people “who are obsessed with A.I.,” he said.

侯先生的一些创意员工拥有电影制作背景，但另一些人则纯粹是“对AI着迷的人”，他说。

“This work isn’t exactly traditional screenwriting. Part of it requires translating into a language that A.I. can understand,” he said. “People who don’t have a traditional directing or screenwriting background might actually be better at it.”

“这项工作并不完全等同于传统的编剧。其中一部分需要将其翻译成AI能够理解的语言，”他说。“没有传统导演或编剧背景的人，实际上可能更擅长这件事。”

Producing a 100-minute animated series takes about one month and three employees. Realistic ones take around five people, because it is more labor-intensive to create images that are good enough.

制作一部100分钟的动画系列剧大约需要一个月时间和三名员工。而写实风格的剧集则需要五个人左右，因为要创造出足够精细的图像需要耗费更多的劳动力。

Industry competition has become fiercer in recent months. But Mr. Hou predicted that many of the cheapest productions would fizzle out, as audiences demanded higher quality.

近几个月来，行业竞争变得更加激烈。但侯先生预测，随着观众对质量要求的提高，许多最廉价的制作将会逐渐淡出。

He also said he was not worried about the public backlash toward A.I.-generated microdramas. As government oversight increased, he said, improper uses of people’s likenesses would decrease.

他还表示，自己并不担心公众对AI生成微短剧的抵触情绪。他说，随着政府监管的加强，不当使用他人肖像的现象将会减少。

And people would gradually find ways to adapt to the employment pains, too, he said. He himself had previously worked for big tech companies in Beijing before he was forced out by cutbacks and pivoted to A.I. filmmaking.

他还表示，人们也会逐渐找到适应失业痛苦的方法。在因裁员被迫离职并转向AI电影制作之前，他自己曾在北京的大型科技公司工作过。

“The impact on employment — there definitely will be an impact,” Mr. Hou said. “But for individuals, what can you do? You can only embrace this new era and think about how to adapt.”

“对就业的影响——肯定会有影响，”侯先生说。“但对于个人来说，你能做什么呢？你只能拥抱这个新时代，并思考如何去适应它。”