The Chinese Streaming Industry Is Being Gutted by AI-Generated Shows

Walk past any bustling office in Beijing’s streaming hub, and you’ll hear the same anxious chatter: teams once tasked with developing original scripts are being disbanded, veteran directors are being replaced by generative AI tools, and platforms are slashing content budgets by 40% or more. The culprit? A flood of low-cost, AI-generated shows that are upending the country’s once-thriving streaming sector.

This isn’t a far-off prediction. It’s happening right now. Major platforms like iQiyi, Tencent Video, and Youku are quietly pivoting to AI-produced content to cut costs, and the damage to the industry’s core is already visible.

Why Platforms Are Rushing to AI-Generated Shows

For Chinese streaming platforms, the math is brutal. Producing a high-quality 40-episode original drama can cost upwards of ¥200 million ($28 million USD), with no guarantee of viewer traction. AI-generated shows, by contrast, can be produced for as little as ¥5 million ($700,000 USD) per season.

Platforms are also facing stagnant subscriber growth and mounting losses. After years of burning cash to secure exclusive IP and top talent, many are turning to AI as a quick fix to balance their books.

Key drivers of the shift include:

• 90% lower production costs compared to traditional live-action content
• Ability to churn out 10x more content per quarter than human teams
• AI tools that can mimic popular genres (period dramas, modern rom-coms) with near-human accuracy
• Reduced reliance on expensive actors, directors, and writers

The Gutting of the Industry: Who’s Paying the Price?

The shift to AI content isn’t just a budget tweak—it’s hollowing out the industry’s foundational talent and creative output.

Job Losses Across the Board

Writers, junior directors, set designers, and even post-production staff are the first to be cut. Industry reports estimate that over 15,000 streaming-related jobs have been lost in China in the past 12 months alone, with more cuts expected by the end of 2024.

Veteran screenwriter Li Wei (pseudonym) told local media: “I’ve spent 10 years building my career, and now platforms are asking me to ‘consult’ on AI scripts for 1/5th my usual rate. They don’t need original ideas anymore—just someone to tweak AI output.”

Original Content Is Disappearing

AI tools rely on existing popular content to train their models, which means they churn out derivative, formulaic shows that follow proven tropes. Gone are the risky, experimental projects that once made Chinese streaming stand out globally.

Data from China’s National Radio and Television Administration shows that original, non-AI scripted content dropped by 32% in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

Viewer Backlash Is Growing

At first, viewers were intrigued by AI shows’ low budgets and fast release schedules. But fatigue is setting in. Comment sections on AI releases are flooded with complaints about stiff dialogue, plot holes, and uncanny valley character animations.

One iQiyi user commented on a recent AI period drama: “The sets look nice, but the characters talk like robots. I miss shows with real human emotion.”

Is There a Future for Human-Made Streaming Content?

Industry experts say the shift to AI isn’t reversible, but there’s still room for human creativity to survive.

Some platforms are experimenting with hybrid models: using AI for background scenes, minor dialogue, and post-production edits, while keeping human teams for core storytelling, lead acting, and directorial choices.

Others are pivoting to niche, high-budget original content that AI can’t replicate—think complex, character-driven dramas or experimental documentaries that require human nuance.

Regulators are also stepping in. In July 2024, China’s media watchdog issued new guidelines requiring all AI-generated content to be clearly labeled, and mandating that platforms allocate at least 20% of their content budgets to human-produced original projects.

What Comes Next?

The Chinese streaming industry is at a crossroads. AI-generated shows offer platforms a way to cut costs and stay afloat, but the long-term cost—lost talent, derivative content, and alienated viewers—could be far higher.

For now, the gutting of the industry is accelerating. But if platforms can find a way to balance AI efficiency with human creativity, there’s still hope for the sector to retain its global edge.

Stay tuned to our blog for more updates on how AI is reshaping the entertainment industry worldwide.