China News Service, Hangzhou, October 3 (Guo Qiyu) During the National Day holiday, I walked into the Chinese Internet Writers Village in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and multiple AI comics were screened on the big screen. These works have a common source - Internet literature.
Currently, the rapid development of generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) has activated the massive story resources accumulated in online literature for many years. An industrial transformation from text to image is taking place in China's online literature industry.
As the core gathering platform of the domestic online literature industry, the China Internet Writers Village has attracted more than 400 online writers such as Tang Jiasanshao, Jiang Shengnan, Guan Pingchao, etc. It is a "rich mine" of original story content.
However, under the traditional model, the threshold for film and television adaptation of Internet IP IP is high, the cost is high, and the cycle is long. Market resources are concentrated on a few leading IPs, and a large number of creative mid-level Internet stories can only remain at the text level. Today, AI technology is rewriting the industry logic of web IP conversion.
"AI has broken industry barriers, allowing niche and creative IPs to have market-oriented channels, and have the opportunity to become popular." Shen Rong, general manager of operations of China Online Writers Village, said that currently more than 30% of the companies in China Online Writers Village have laid out AI comics and AI film and television drama tracks to seize the new blue ocean of AI audiovisuals.
With the empowerment of technology, the practice of AI film and television in online literature has differentiated into differentiated development paths such as intensive cultivation of high-quality products and overseas short plays, injecting diversified vitality into the development of the industry.
Chen Jincheng, a young writer born after 1995 and the director of "Screen Literature" of the AIGC team, will settle in the China Online Writers Village at the end of 2024. What he does is not the common "cool drama" on the market, but uses AI to visually adapt classic literature. His team made Lu Xun's "Diary of a Madman" into a 6-minute AI short film, which has been screened in 23 countries and regions.
"AI has changed the way content is produced, but now it relies too much on 'super individuals'. No matter how good one's aesthetics and technology are, he cannot achieve mass production." Chen Jincheng said that his team has explored flexible creation mechanisms such as "creation fake" and "canvas collaboration" to adapt to the creative production rhythm of the AI era.
Relying on the mature fairy tale, fantasy, and urban narrative systems of online literature, AI short dramas have become a new outlet for Chinese stories to go overseas.
The online novel "Shang Yuan Huan" written by Wang Yirong, a "post-90s" Internet writer and secretary of the Party branch of China Internet Writers Village, has completed the entire development process from literary publishing to micro-short dramas before the advent of AI comics. The translated versions in more than 20 languages are available on more than 30 overseas mainstream platforms around the world.
Wang Yurong introduced that the re-creation of the AI comic drama uses generative technology to optimize the character modeling and scene texture based on the original story. It not only retains the oriental charm of the Lantern Festival in the Southern Song Dynasty, but also adapts to the viewing rhythm of short video platforms, allowing Song Yun IP to reach young groups in a lighter form.
In terms of mechanism, the "White Horse Award" for new era online literature hosted by China Internet Writers Village incorporates IP multi-form derivative development into the evaluation system, guiding and encouraging creators from the source to create high-quality content that is suitable for AI transformation.
At present, China Internet Writers Village has facilitated the transformation of more than 270 online literary IPs into online dramas and online games such as "The Legend of the Tibetan Sea" and "Lord of the Mystery", with the cumulative transaction amount exceeding RMB 2.24 billion.
