China’s booming ultra-short drama industry is being reshaped by the rapid rise of AI-generated video. In Zhengzhou, one of the country’s major production hubs, directors, actors, crews, and film bases that once fueled the industry’s explosive growth are now facing shrinking budgets, fewer shoots, and an uncertain future. Meanwhile, in other cities like Wuxi, AI studios are embracing the same technology to produce dramas faster and at a fraction of the traditional cost. As the two worlds increasingly converge, the question is no longer whether AI will change filmmaking, but what role humans will have in it.

China’s Gaokao Created a Love Fool: Emily An English writing question in China’s college entrance exam this year was supposed to test students’ language skills. Instead, it sparked a nationwide roast of a fictional woman named Emily. The question asked students to continue a story about Emily, who ignored a snowstorm warning and drove hundreds of miles to spend Christmas with her boyfriend. After getting stranded in a ditch, she was rescued by a couple who suggested she take the train instead. Online, many users decided Emily’s biggest problem wasn’t the weather. They labeled her “lian’ai nao” or “romance brain” — a popular slang term for people who let romance override common sense. And joked that the best ending would be for her to break up with her boyfriend. The debate quickly took off, with a related hashtag drawing more than 32 million views on microblogging platform Weibo. Many users shared their own stories of the irrational things they had done for love. “This may be the exam setter’s last lesson on healthy romantic relationships before students step into adulthood,” one user wrote.