There’s a quote I really love: “I was born too late and missed the Age of Exploration. I was born too early and won’t live to see humanity explore the brilliant stars.” Is this AI wave a great voyage of discovery, or a renaissance? It has given my creativity a chance for complete liberation. For a while, I was troubled by my slower progress compared to others, so I made an effort to form a team; however, in recent months, I’ve come to terms with it.
In the AI field, those who run fast enough have either already become big influencers or are already producing series. Their teams are not only assembled but have also finished their adjustment period. They will definitely create works much better than last year’s in the second half of this year. By May of this year, technological updates had made everyone’s work more than just PowerPoint presentations. The second half of this year will be when works appear in concentrated numbers. If I wanted to catch this train, I was indeed late.
Just in terms of creating works, I was also late. I only started focusing on creation after May this year. Before that, I took many detours, like spinning in circles. I spent a long time busy with people-related matters, forgetting that creation was the most urgent thing. This point is worth emphasizing repeatedly – currently, the best approach is still to make more films.
The biggest mistake I made before was being troubled by many things and not consistently producing work. Only by consistently producing works is there a possibility of being seen, even if the works cannot be widely disseminated. If you’re also creating AI videos, we can encourage each other in this area. Don’t let other things steal your time for creating works.
In terms of social media accumulation, I was also late, missing the period around DeepSeek at the beginning of the year. I wish I had started a year ago, but everything has its developmental patterns – sometimes, when you don’t encounter the right moment, you just don’t. Sometimes I also doubt whether my overly slow development can really reach where I hope to go.
Even in writing The Computational Universe, I wrote the first note on January 22, 2021, and it has been over four years since I created this universe. Yet I haven’t even finished the first novel in the series, which has undergone multiple revisions throughout. Although I was finally satisfied with the first novel I finished rewriting last week, it’s really too late.
I officially started making AI-generated videos last July, after the release of Kling. Before that, although I had played with Gen2, those couldn’t be called watchable videos. After running for a year and getting today’s results, the progress is incredibly slow. However, I’m still working hard. Maybe it’s because this is true love.
Yesterday, chatting with a friend, I realized that besides being too late, the entire AI filmmaking industry might still be too early. The maturity of technology is far from reaching a stable plateau. It also hasn’t reached the level where it can create emotionally rich action scenes, which is why I currently cannot film The Computational Universe.
Although AI technology has already made huge leaps compared to last year, there are still enormous gaps in handling complex motion shots and character emotions. Creators transitioning from film and television majors will always feel that current AI is insufficient and can’t meet their desired standards. This shot can’t be filmed, that one can’t either.
The current production capacity and quality for making the series both require improvement. In terms of production capacity, using AI to make a series is still too slow. One person can create 30 seconds to 1 minute of AI video per day, but pre-production preparation and post-production adjustments also consume a significant amount of time. Compared to live-action short dramas, there’s no advantage in cost or production speed. And once you want to achieve good quality, the required talent becomes extremely versatile.
Communication difficulties exist between AI application engineers and traditional film and television directors, cinematographers, storyboard artists, and other professionals. It’s a bit like a group of engineers making films rather than a group of original filmmakers using AI. And engineers sometimes can’t master cinematic language particularly well. All of this needs time to mature.
Since last year, I’ve been waiting for this year’s technological updates; this year, I’m waiting for next year’s technological updates. Perhaps I’m looking for a period of technological maturity, a time suitable for major investment, while also looking for a stable period for my long-form stories. Further settling is still required.
I’m not sure when you joined the AI filmmaking production. Whether you came early or late, this is the best of times. I still want to repeat what I just said: don’t let other things steal your time for creating works. Only continuous accumulation will bring final change.
Of course, keep following me. We might all find the most suitable technological timing. I will continue walking this path here, and I hope you’re not just dabbling but want to develop deeply.
Follow me and explore AI filmmaking together.
