Mu shouldn’t be the one comic who has tried to mimic the type of AI-generated movies, however he actually nails the entire parts: The clumsy bodily actions, the spaced-out facial expressions, and the unpredictable plot improvement. Many viewers, me included, had 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—in search of background appearing alternatives. He began making comedy sketches on Chinese language 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 language generative AI firm, which paid him 80,000 RMB (about $11,000) to provide two extra sketches selling the corporate’s video mannequin. That’s not a foul gig, however I actually anticipated Mu to have obtained extra alternatives by his world 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. However the advertiser selected the one with the AI. “That form of feels prefer it’s beginning 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 collection, this time mimicking the movies created by Sora, OpenAI’s newest generative video software. His new video is far more delicate however nonetheless manages to nail that unexplainably unsettling feeling that has endured at the same time as AI movies develop into extra superior.
Mu says there’s a perpetual battle underway as AI accelerates, but it surely’s not man versus machine. Fairly, the conflict is between people and different people who make AI fashions, and either side is consistently attempting to 1 up the opposite. “We’re poking enjoyable at a few of AI’s flaws, its eeriness and absurdity, however the AI creators are most likely enhancing these, too. You see, this 12 months’s AI already seems to be far more human,” Mu says.
The way to Act Like AI
Earlier than he made his first AI imitation sketch in July 2024, Mu watched lots of AI slop movies to check their widespread traits. He wished to grasp the sorts of errors AI usually makes after which re-create them in his personal scripts.
For instance, when an object seems within the body, AI usually misunderstands its function for being there. For instance, a hanger can be utilized to hold garments, but it surely’s additionally usually the weapon of selection when mother and father in China bodily punish their youngsters. That twin use impressed one other one of Mu’s movies final 12 months, the place halfway by pretending to hit his “son” with a hanger, the boy’s shorts mysteriously come off, and Mu seems to be like he instantly forgot what he’s doing and determined to hold up the shorts as a substitute.
