Before we hail Hong Kong cinema’s return, let’s ensure its survival

Hong Kong cinema faces an existential threat from AI-generated content, which is flooding the market and undermining human creativity. The author argues that without proper regulations to protect intellectual property and creative industries, the city risks losing its cultural identity and economic edge in filmmaking.

Advertisement Opinion Before we hail Hong Kong cinema’s return, let’s ensure its survival The rules we make around artificial intelligence and creative work today will define what the city’s culture and economy look like tomorrow 3-MIN READ3-MIN Adam Au is the general counsel at a multinational corporation. The Furious , Hong Kong’s latest action flick https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3356499/furious-movie-review-pan-asian-martial-arts-talents-unite-brutal-action-spectacle?module=inline&pgtype=article , is crushing it on Rotten Tomatoes and has garnered critical acclaim abroad – proof of what human-centric filmmaking can still deliver in today’s market. But before we rush to hail the return of Hong Kong cinema, a new breed of drama factory is quietly generating content at a velocity no human team could ever match. In mainland China, micro dramas https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3352019/how-china-using-ai-and-state-funding-transform-micro-drama-industry?module=inline&pgtype=article generated by artificial intelligence AI have turned the industry upside down. A production schedule that once demanded months from a full crew can be compressed into weeks by a handful of people. For the media platforms, this is a gold rush. For artists, it’s a nightmare.This shift isn’t confined to dramas. The ubiquity of AI-generated content is becoming impossible to ignore. We face a barrage of AI-created advertisements, and official bodies like the Correctional Services Department are venturing into these new waters, as evidenced by the controversial anti-drug video https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3358606/ai-k-pop-video-pulled-after-anti-drug-message-backfires-hong-kong-prison-service?module=inline&pgtype=article .When content becomes a high-volume, low-cost commodity produced by algorithms, how much space remains for human ingenuity? In the pre-AI era, the pact was clear: writers, directors and actors shared the risks and rewards, and credits were a public record of accountability. Generative AI upended this. Someone who knows nothing about movie production can feed prompts into a system trained on the statistical echoes of past work to generate a storyline and visuals. But the results can hardly be described as original. They are, at best, pastiches. Hong Kong has long promoted itself as a city that cherishes creativity and intellectual property. Tourists make pilgrimages to see the police station https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3338484/exhibition-classic-hong-kong-police-films-opens-revitalised-old-station?module=inline&pgtype=article made famous by Infernal Affairs or to stand where the Kowloon Walled City https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/3263596/hong-kongs-kowloon-walled-city-best-south-china-morning-posts-past-coverage?module=inline&pgtype=article once stood, inspired by . They don’t come for a green screen. This cultural cachet was built by real creators and their unique stories. To cede this ground to algorithmic content mills would be an erosion of our collective identity. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3261051/twilight-warriors-walled-movie-review-kowloon-walled-city-reimagined-soi-cheang-martial-arts?module=inline&pgtype=article Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In Advertisement Select Voice Select Speed 1.00x