Original title: Artificial intelligence explores the integration and development path of online literature and micro-short dramas
Every revolution in literature and art is affected by advances in media technology. In the AIGC era, “what is literature and art?” has become a hot topic. Although there is still controversy over whether artificial intelligence has “self” and “subjectivity”, technological progress will not stop, and its impact on literary and artistic creation will continue to deepen.In this regard, we should clearly distinguish the pros and cons in the process of becoming familiar with and accepting it, and find more effective ways that are more conducive to the construction and expression of the human spirit.
In recent years, the continuous development and application of AIGC (generative artificial intelligence) technology has brought unprecedented impact to literature and art. From Microsoft Xiaoice, which can write poems and songs, to large language models such as ChatGPT, iFlytek Spark and Wenxin Yiyan, which can have advanced conversations with people and write manuscripts, to the generative artificial intelligence model Sora, which creates videos through text commands. , artificial intelligence has begun to enter the field of literary and artistic creation and production. On February 26, the “2023 China Internet Literature Development Research Report” released by the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that AIGC has become a new hot spot in online literature of the year, and micro-short dramas have become a new outlet for the transformation of Internet literature IP. The new model of “content production automation” pioneered by AIGC provides new opportunities for the integrated development of online literature and micro-drama.
“Generative artificial intelligence refers to technology that generates text, pictures, sounds, videos, codes and other content based on algorithms, models, and rules.” Its underlying logic is that it does not require humans to create, but generates ideas based on big data algorithms. Of course, the basis for its generation is still the subject instructions issued by people. This seems to subvert the previous creative ethics. Traditionally, literary works are regarded as “works in which writers express their unique spiritual world through unique language and art.” Abrams said that the “four elements” of literature, that is, the four elements of “world, writer, work and reader” are interdependent and interactive in literature. However, in the creation of AIGC, the author as the subject has been “dehumanized”. As a result, the “objective world” and “spiritual world” it depicts are obviously no longer the observations and experiences of a certain writer. This change has undoubtedly fragmented the traditional definition of literature.
After the birth of AIGC, it took the lead in exerting a great influence on Internet literature. Online writers can use language models to assist creation, thereby expanding ideas and improving efficiency. The “Writer’s Assistant Miaobi Edition” launched by China Literature Group is an AIGC application product for online writers. It can help writers enrich scene descriptions and character settings by providing inspiration, supplementing details, etc., and even generate character images. This is determined by the production mechanism and expression method of online literature.
From the perspective of production mechanism, online literature is created and disseminated on the Internet, while AIGC collects information through big data operations and also needs to be carried out in an online environment. Both have network attributes. The creative inspiration of Internet writers uses personal knowledge, experience, imagination and feelings; while the creation of AIGC uses all human knowledge that exists in the network database (experience, imagination and feelings have been intellectualized and digitized) . It can be seen from this that AIGC will definitely transcend individual limitations, but it cannot transcend human beings as a whole.
From the perspective of expression, online literature is called “reader’s literature”. The author should tell stories around the readers’ wishes, unlike traditional writers who write about themselves. This makes the expression of online literature “de-authorized” and “de-subjectified”. Most writers are in a “third party” position outside the text, and the story does not form a direct correspondence with the writer’s own life, personality and emotions. . This is similar to AIGC’s “dehumanized” writing, that is, it does not pursue the objective authenticity depicted in the story.
As “reader’s literature”, online literature writing is like the live narration of ancient storytellers, with a distinctive display and performative nature. The key lies in how to attract readers (audiences). There is a saying in the literary and art circles that “familiarity with opera produces writing”, which means that when singing opera, one should sing old operas that the audience likes to listen to, while in storytelling, one should tell stories that others have not heard. This gave rise to the creative goal of “telling a good story” in online literature. The author must have strong creative ability and be able to impress the audience through novel stories. This is consistent with the goals and principles of micro-short dramas. Micro-short dramas should unfold the story in a short period of time and condense the dramatic conflicts so that the audience can watch in fragmented time. It can be seen that although micro-short dramas rely on “shortness” to attract audiences, and online literature relies on “longness” to retain readers, the pursuit of creativity is the same.
Because of the common goal, the integrated development of online literature and micro-short dramas has formed a convenient channel. On the one hand, the online drama industry can copy the development experience of online literature. In particular, online literature is based on a platform-centered production mechanism and overseas communication strategy, which can be used as an effective reference for the micro-short drama industry. On the other hand, online literature can become a material library for micro-short dramas, and a large number of online novels can be adapted into micro-short dramas. Relevant data shows that the number of key online micro-short dramas in 2022 will increase from 58 in 2021 to 172, and more than 300 new micro-short dramas will be authorized for online literature. Among the 13 works that top the box office of new short dramas in 2023, there are as many as 10 works adapted from online literature. The strong growth of micro-short dramas not only provides new IP development avenues for online literature, but also attracts online writers to actively create micro-short drama scripts, thus bringing a new stylistic trend to online literature. The already popular bubble novels, story novels, and interactive novels actually have the characteristics of online short dramas.
More importantly, with the extensive application of AIGC, the production cost of micro-short dramas will drop significantly. On February 26, China’s first Vincentian video AI cartoon “Ode to a Thousand Autumn Poems” produced by China Central Radio and Television was launched. This series of cartoons uses AI to transform more than 200 poems from the nationally compiled Chinese textbooks into beautiful Chinese-style animations, allowing more people, especially teenagers, to experience the charming charm of Chinese culture. A Sichuan blogger used AI technology to generate the “Journey to the West” animated short film, which has a majestic style. According to media reports, the creator first used ChatGPT to analyze the original work to complete storyboard planning, then used AI drawing, and then used Vincent Video technology to complete the animation. , in one week, we completed what would have taken half a year to render manually. It can be predicted that the micro-short drama market will usher in a boom, which is also good for online literature.
Every revolution in literature and art is affected by advances in media technology. In the AIGC era, “what is literature and art?” has become a hot topic. Although there is still controversy over whether artificial intelligence has “self” and “subjectivity”, technological progress will not stop, and its impact on literary and artistic creation will continue to deepen. In this regard, we should clearly distinguish the pros and cons in the process of familiarity and acceptance, and find more effective ways that are more conducive to the construction and expression of the human spirit. (Alpinia sinensis)
