Mu will not be the one comic who has tried to mimic the type of AI-generated movies, however he actually nails the entire parts: The clumsy bodily actions, the spaced-out facial expressions, and the unpredictable plot improvement. Many viewers, me included, have been shocked at how precisely he captured the essence of AI slop videos.
Mu tells me that the half-dozen AI imitation movies he has filmed characterize solely a small a part of his performing profession. He has needed to be an actor since school and spent the summer time after his freshman yr at Hengdian World Studios—the world’s largest movie studio—searching for background performing alternatives. He began making comedy sketches on Chinese language social media in 2019, and content material creation now takes up most of his time.
The success of his AI imitation movies earned him a sponsorship deal from a Chinese language generative AI firm, which paid him 80,000 RMB (about $11,000) to supply two extra sketches selling the corporate’s video mannequin. That’s not a foul gig, however I actually anticipated Mu to have acquired extra alternatives via his international virality.
As a part of the sponsorship, Mu shot two variations of the sketches, one which embedded AI-generated footage and one with out it. He was secretly hoping that the advertiser would select the latter, as a result of it showcases human performing expertise entrance and middle. However the advertiser selected the one with the AI. “That sort of feels prefer it’s beginning to steal jobs from human actors, doesn’t it?” Mu says.
Mu popped up on my timeline once more final week when he launched a sequel to his first AI imitation collection, this time mimicking the videos created by Sora, OpenAI’s newest generative video device. His new video is far more delicate however nonetheless manages to nail that unexplainably unsettling feeling that has endured at the same time as AI movies develop into extra superior.
Mu says there’s a perpetual battle underway as AI accelerates, nevertheless it’s not man versus machine. Relatively, the conflict is between people and different people who make AI fashions, and both sides is consistently attempting to 1 up the opposite. “We’re poking enjoyable at a few of AI’s flaws, its eeriness and absurdity, however the AI creators are in all probability bettering these, too. You see, this yr’s AI already appears to be like far more human,” Mu says.
How one can Act Like AI
Earlier than he made his first AI imitation sketch in July 2024, Mu watched a whole lot of AI slop movies to check their widespread traits. He needed to grasp the sorts of errors AI typically makes after which re-create them in his personal scripts.
For instance, when an object seems within the body, AI typically misunderstands its goal for being there. For instance, a hanger can be utilized to hold garments, nevertheless it’s additionally typically the weapon of alternative when dad and mom in China bodily punish their youngsters. That twin use impressed another one of Mu’s movies final yr, the place halfway via pretending to hit his “son” with a hanger, the boy’s shorts mysteriously come off, and Mu appears to be like like he abruptly forgot what he’s doing and determined to hold up the shorts as an alternative.
