The Man Who Makes AI Slop by Hand | EUROtoday

Mu will not be the one comic who has tried to mimic the type of AI-generated movies, however he actually nails all the components: The clumsy bodily actions, the spaced-out facial expressions, and the unpredictable plot growth. Many viewers, me included, have been shocked at how precisely he captured the essence of AI slop movies.

Mu tells me that the half-dozen AI imitation movies he has filmed characterize solely a small a part of his appearing profession. He has wished to be an actor since school and spent the summer season after his freshman 12 months at Hengdian World Studios—the world’s largest movie studio—on the lookout for background appearing alternatives. He began making comedy sketches on Chinese 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 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 truthfully anticipated Mu to have obtained 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 appearing abilities entrance and middle. But the advertiser selected the one with the AI. “That kind of feels like it’s starting 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 sequence, this time mimicking the movies created by Sora, OpenAI’s newest generative video software. His new video is far more refined however nonetheless manages to nail that unexplainably unsettling feeling that has endured at the same time as AI movies change into extra superior.

Mu says there’s a perpetual battle underway as AI accelerates, nevertheless it’s not man versus machine. Rather, the conflict is between people and different people who make AI fashions, and both sides is consistently making an attempt to 1 up the opposite. “We’re poking fun at some of AI’s flaws, its eeriness and absurdity, but the AI creators are probably improving those, too. You see, this year’s AI already looks much more human,” Mu says.

How to Act Like AI

Before he made his first AI imitation sketch in July 2024, Mu watched a number of AI slop movies to check their frequent traits. He wished 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 objective for being there. For instance, a hanger can be utilized to hold garments, nevertheless it’s additionally typically the weapon of alternative when mother and father in China bodily punish their youngsters. That twin use impressed one other one among Mu’s movies final 12 months, the place halfway via pretending to hit his “son” with a hanger, the boy’s shorts mysteriously come off, and Mu seems like he all of the sudden forgot what he’s doing and determined to hold up the shorts as a substitute.