AI microdramas or vertical dramas are taking over your socmed feed!
Mobile device entertainment in the age of AI has offered a new form — shorts, microdramas or vertical dramas all AI-generated now taking over social media platforms – Facebook and YouTube in particular. Stories are, well, short and fast-paced and often laden with fantasy and magic. With their stunning perfectly drawn or crafted visuals, enchanting action, audience are captivated and hooked in no time.
These AI dramas have been popping up across social channels, piquing the curiosity of people who catch them through algorithmic recommendations. The clips often tease viewers and end in cliffhangers, prompting them to download apps that offer free AI short dramas.
Shorts, microdramas or vertical dramas have been all the rage in recent years. The stories are nothing new: a mafia boss falls in love with a down-on-her-luck, unsuspecting woman. Or, if you’re into Chinese dramas, a 21st-century woman gets transported into a novel or book. Live actors star in these dramas, many of them lesser known than mainstream stars.
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As the name suggests, these dramas feature AI-generated actors who often resemble popular stars such as fan-favorite Henry Cavill, Xu Kai or Dylan Wang. Imagine Henry Cavill as the dragon lord in a reverse-harem or beast-world series. Dylan Wang or Xu Kai as the noble general, crown prince or regent who enters an arranged or contract marriage with the heroine, who usually gets transmigrated into an online novel or book.
Intriguing titles such as “Deny Me Dragon King,” “My Baby Daddy is the Elf Prince,” “Mafia Boss’ Contract Bride” or “My Six Beast Husbands Refuse to Divorce Me” are surefire clickbait that feed many people’s fantasies. The fantasy has even extended to fans editing themselves into photos with favorite characters such as Don Moretti or Sinclair, either as a couple or with the character as their desired fantasy husband.
Impact on real actors
South China Morning Post published two reports featuring Chinese short-drama actors Xu Peng and Zhang Xiaolei, who found themselves out of acting work amid the rise of AI dramas. Financial Times tackled the impact of AI dramas on human actors in a report in August 2026. The British paper says: “China’s actors are written out of dramas as AI doubles are ready to take their roles.”
It also reported that the release of AI-powered video software, such as ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 model, has enabled producers to create high-quality video featuring digital actors faster and at lower cost. The article cited data from the China Netcasting Services Association showing that about 128,000 short dramas were released in the first quarter of 2026, with 95% of them AI-generated.
In the Philippines, local content creators/animators have started publishing their AI-generated microdramas in socmed channels by way of episodes/chapters. The themes center on Filipino folklore such as “aswangs” and “engkantos” infused with love story or family relation elements. They look promising and have the potential to get the local audience engaged with familiar narratives and homegrown visuals and images.
Reference: Moretti or Sinclair: Why dragons, elves and ‘mafia’ are taking over your feed
