As AI-generated short films surge online, prominent VN directors and actors argue that technology can transform filmmaking but still cannot replicate the emotional depth, creative judgment and lived experience that human artists bring to the screen.
Editor's note: The rapid development of technology and artificial intelligence has fueled an explosion of AI-generated short films across digital platforms. Sensational plots, illogical twists and conventionally attractive characters with similar expressions are drawing huge audiences and generating substantial revenue from advertising and subscription packages.
What do audiences and filmmakers think about AI shorts? Could human actors lose their jobs to AI performers? And what should be done to establish rules for AI-generated films? VietNamNet explores these questions in a series of articles.
Dr. Bui Nhu Lai, Meritorious Artist and rector of Hanoi Academy of Theatre and Cinema: Emotion remains at the heart of art
The rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the proliferation of films and other media products generated by computers have created a global phenomenon. They have also fueled anxiety among many actors and arts students about potentially losing their jobs or being replaced by technology in the future.
I understand those concerns among young people. As both a working artist and someone responsible for arts education, I would like to share some candid personal observations.
Anxiety about a new wave of technology is nothing new. Nearly 20 years ago, when I was working with colleagues at the Youth Theatre, many people worried that the boom in game shows and television entertainment programs would take jobs away from stage performers.
At the time, I told them: "Believe me, the value of genuine creativity and genuine artistic work will remain."
Looking at AI today, I do not feel afraid at all. I have watched some short films created with AI. They may be technologically eye-catching, but they completely lack emotional value - the essential, life-giving element of art.
I am not advocating that people avoid or reject technology. My advice to young people and students is this: "If you can master AI and turn it into a tool serving your creative thinking, that is success. But if you allow it to control you and become completely dependent on it, you will certainly fail. The line between success and failure depends on the choices you make."
Even as major markets such as China accelerate the production of AI-generated content, I remain absolutely confident in the enduring vitality of traditional art and human emotion.
The history of global cinema offers a clear lesson. 3D movies once triggered a craze for wearing special glasses in theaters, while 5D cinema became fashionable at tourist attractions. Yet Hollywood and world cinema ultimately continued to celebrate fundamental artistic values. Films shot on 35mm or 70mm film still win some of the industry's most prestigious artistic awards.
Why do these artistic values keep returning? Look at films that rely heavily on technology: even when they become famous, they tend to win technical awards rather than the Academy Award for Best Picture.
True artistic value always lies in emotion and creative thought. I believe AI will never take creative work away from genuine artists.
Red Rain director Colonel Dang Thai Huyen: AI films will not necessarily destroy cinema
I deeply value the process of working with actors. Sometimes a reaction, a glance or the way an actor understands a character gives me additional creative inspiration. That exchange is an important part of how I make films.
So when it comes to AI actors, I cannot convince myself that they would work for me.
I also do not believe AI films will inevitably destroy cinema. What concerns me is the pressure to make films faster and more cheaply, which could lead to creative exploration and artistic labor being undervalued and films becoming increasingly alike.
I am willing to learn about and use AI when it helps me tell a story better. But I still want to retain artistic control and the filmmaker's responsibility for the work and the audience.
Meritorious Artist Ho Phong: AI films lack depth and their actors lack a 'soul'
I have never watched a complete AI-generated film. A few times, I have come across short clips online and found them quite engaging. The actors look striking, the scenes can be spectacular, and the stories cover a fairly wide range of genres, from powerful business tycoons and crime bosses to mythology.
I think this is also a form of entertainment combined with online business, and its emergence is inevitable because almost everyone now has a smartphone and can go online at any time. It is similar to AI-generated music: many songs sound good and some even become hits.
One thing is certain: AI films will develop because they are cheap, accessible and easy to produce. But I do not think they can replace human actors yet.
There is still a difference between AI films and films performed by flesh-and-blood actors. At this stage, AI actors still seem to lack a "soul." I get the sense that there is no real connection among them, almost as if everyone is simply doing their own separate job.
In short, there is no inner life, even though AI can reproduce expressions and emotional nuances accurately.
AI films lack depth. It is difficult to feel genuine intimacy when watching them because AI actors have no real lives. They are simulations and imitations without a continuous inner emotional life.
Anything new can have appealing qualities, but I doubt those qualities alone can remain compelling forever.
There will not be an AI film that makes audiences rush through dinner and their chores so they can gather around and wait for it to begin, as they once did for Voi bach tuoc or Vuot nguc.
But I think incorporating AI technology into filmmaking could be extremely interesting and help solve many challenges that require visual effects.
People's Artist Trong Trinh: AI actors will never overshadow human performers
We have to acknowledge that AI films can create eye-catching settings, engaging stories, beautiful environments and surreal lighting that would normally be extremely difficult to produce.
But I firmly believe AI actors will never overshadow real-life performers. AI films will never tell stories the way human beings do.
AI itself is created by people, and all the emotions conveyed through an AI performance are merely illustrative. They do not have a soul. Only humans can create genuine emotion.
Nothing can replace artists. AI is merely a tool to support and enhance cinema and television.
Director Vo Thanh Hoa: Many AI films are criticized as nonsensical and illogical
AI-generated short films are booming, bringing a flood of productions of widely varying quality and considerable debate about the future of filmmaking.
There are positive aspects to the rush to make AI short films. But many AI films have been criticized as nonsensical, with illogical stories and beautiful images but little substance. I believe the problem lies in how we use the technology, rather than in the technology itself.
What AI cannot replace is the consistent artistic sensibility that a director brings to an entire film. AI merely helps compensate for skills we may lack.
Some people argue that someone with no formal filmmaking education who knows how to use AI can produce a film in just a few days. I do not think it is that simple. A few days may be enough to produce a video clip, but probably not a film, because filmmaking demands much more.
In my view, the dividing line between using AI to support creativity and allowing AI to take over the entire creative process lies in the mindset of the person using it.
For young directors and filmmakers working with limited budgets, AI can supplement skills they do not yet have, giving them more possibilities to examine before deciding which direction to pursue.
There are also concerns that AI can imitate other people's images, faces, voices and styles. I believe filmmakers remain responsible for the final quality of their work.
We cannot completely hand over distinctive elements or highly emotional aspects of a film to AI. The technology can reduce workloads, but decisions requiring judgment and creativity should still be made by people.
Whether AI films become an independent category, remain simply a production tool or change how people experience cinema over the next three to five years will, in my view, depend on audiences.
If viewers gradually become accustomed to AI and can no longer distinguish AI-generated imagery from images of real people, that boundary will become increasingly blurred and a new trend could emerge.
If AI-generated content becomes widespread enough and good enough, we will still have to accept it.
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