The elite narrative around artificial intelligence has produced its own underdog stories.
In May, Liu Ziyu, a vocational school graduate working in real estate in Yuxi, Yunnan province, released Zombie Scavenger. The film surpassed 100 million views across online platforms and was widely described as China’s answer to Love, Death & Robots. It also brought Liu an offer from a Hollywood producer.
The short has English subtitles, but an industry professional who has interacted with Liu said he speaks little English and does not know how to bypass China’s internet controls.
A month later, Liu, who was born in 1997, won a directing award at Douyin’s “Movie Adventure Night.”
Meng Ke, born in 2004, has made a similarly improbable ascent. He won “Best AIGC Director” at the Beijing International Film Festival for Mold, a short film he made with AI in an internet cafe. AIGC stands for AI-generated content.
