5 October 2026 News

Entertainment Industry and Legal Disputes : The Renge Zhengliu (人格蒸馏) open-source project, which uses artificial intelligence technology to distill human knowledge, thoughts, and behavioral styles into skill packages, sparked heated discussion at a themed salon on “Innovation Without Boundaries, Governance With Limits” co-hosted by Shanghaishi Kexie (上海市科协) and Huadongzhengfa Daxue (华东政法大学). Wang Yanfeng, Executive Dean of Shanghaijiaotongdaxue Rengongzhineng Xueyuan (上海交通大学人工智能学院), pointed out that when personal knowledge, experience, and even personality traits can be digitally replicated, urgent issues arise regarding employees’ control over their digital counterparts, recognition of original value, and protection of workers’ rights. Professor Wang Qian of Huadongzhengfa Daxue (华东政法大学) emphasized that artificial intelligence should not be granted legal personality, and responsibility must ultimately be borne by developers, operators, or users; Long Song, Presiding Judge of the Intellectual Property Comprehensive Trial Division of Shanghai Zhishichanquan Fayuan (上海知识产权法院), also stated that although AI technology can simulate personality expressions, it should not undermine the legal status of humans as subjects of law. Liao Hu, Project Director of SenseTime Ruying Shuzi Ren (如影数字人), revealed that SenseTime is exploring pathways for building trustworthy digital humans with industry partners, establishing governance principles of “authorizable, controllable, and traceable”; Yuan Shidong, General Manager of Public Affairs at Xiaohongshu (小红书), introduced that the company has released the “Xiaohongshu (小红书) AI Governance Position,” and as of May has disposed of 1.8 million notes suspected of AI fraud and 1.2 million matrix accounts managed by AI. Meanwhile, the digital counterpart of Liu Shitong, a member of SNH48, posted an apologetic interaction that attracted attention, becoming another case in discussions about the boundaries between real-life idols and digital counterparts; singer Hua Chenyu’s rendition of “Ephemera” at the Mars Concert in Nanjing employed naked-eye 3D giant screens, real-time projection counterparts, and dynamic water curtain systems, achieving lip-sync virtual-real duet between the performer and digital counterpart, which was praised by audiences and music critics as the “ceiling of domestic entertainment stages,” demonstrating artistic application of virtual counterpart technology serving emotional expression of songs in concert settings.

Cultural Tourism and Cultural Heritage Venue Applications : Beijing Chengshi Tushuguan (北京城市图书馆) has created three digital humans—“Lu Xun,” “Tutu,” and “2122”—in its metaverse experience center. “AI Lu Xun,” powered by AI digital human technology, serves as a special librarian providing visitors with guided tours, book recommendations, and information about Beijing’s cultural and culinary attractions. “Tutu” and “2122” respectively emulate the styles of “children” and “the future” to interact with visitors. The metaverse experience center was created by Zhongyangmeishuxueyuan Sheji Xueyuan (中央美术学院设计学院) Professor Fei Jun’s team and has facilitated over 2 million voice conversations between visitors and digital humans since its opening in late 2023. Nanjing Changjianglu Wenbo Jiequ (南京长江路文博街区) has launched an AI travel companion project where the digital human “Ning Xiaoxuan” serves as tourists’ exclusive intelligent travel “buddy,” providing 7×24-hour on-demand exhibit explanations at venues including Liuchao Bowuguan (六朝博物馆), Nanjing Zongtongfu Jingqu (南京总统府景区), and Jiangning Zhizao Bowuguan (江宁织造博物馆). Combined with AR check-in scanning, virtual digital elements overlaid on real street scenes, and remote photo-taking to generate postcards, related topics trended on Weibo during National Day with videos reaching tens of millions of views on Douyin. The Fenghua Xikou (奉化溪口) ancient town in Ningbo, Zhejiang has launched “Feng Xiaotao,” an AI-powered intelligent companion guide doll that provides cultural explanations and food recommendations while sending crowd warnings based on location information. The town has also created an AI Republican-era dance party scenario where tourists can change outfits via an AI cloud makeup platform, interact with digital NPC characters to request songs, and generate exclusive short videos through AI face-swapping and dancing with digital humans. The scenic area operator stated the model aims to achieve “human-machine relay” complementarity between AI and human tour guides. Shenzhen Huanle Gangwan (深圳欢乐港湾) launched a “Light·Shadow New Quality Concert” during National Day, featuring Baoan’s cultural tourism digital human “Wan Bao” performing cross-genre collaborations with virtual digital idols and live bands. The “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” for Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Transmission issued by Ministry of Culture and Tourism explicitly proposes to “deepen technology empowerment and enhance the level of digital and intelligent protection.” The non-heritage digital human “Feifei” showcased at Chengdu Guoji Fei Yijie (成都国际非遗节) relies on non-heritage knowledge graphs and large language models to enable multilingual explanations and interactive Q&A. Chengdu Guoji Fei Yijie (成都国际非遗节)’s Beijing Feiyi Tiyan Zhongxin (北京非遗体验中心) has also launched collaborative projects between inheritors and technical teams, including AI-human tai chi duet performances.

Recruitment Scenario Controversy : During the autumn recruitment season, a large number of Chinese enterprises have deployed AI Shuzi Ren Mianshiguan (AI数字人面试官) to replace human HR personnel for initial resume screenings and interviews. The related topic “AI interview uncanny valley” trended on Weibo at position 25 with a heat value of 186,858. Job seekers report that while these digital humans possess lifelike features such as blinking and natural speech patterns, their hollow eyes and stiff micro-expressions create a “human-like yet not human” plastic quality that triggers uncanny valley effects and psychological discomfort. The system uses cameras to track pupil movement and facial muscle tension in real time, converting physiological responses such as delayed answers and trembling speech speed into scoring criteria—a practice many users view as disrespectful to candidates. Furthermore, interviews typically conclude with only results rather than detailed feedback, leaving job seekers without effective channels for appeal.

Industry News : In the first half of 2026, the domestic market saw 220,000 new AI Duanju (AI短剧) produced, with 98.7% operating at a loss and hit rates below 1%, as the AI Duanju (AI短剧) industry underwent a transition period from “thousand dramas one face” toward preliminary standardization; the Hongguo APP (红果APP) AI Duanju (AI短剧) heat surged fivefold over four months, with its share rising from 10% at the beginning of the year to a peak of 60%, as industry observers noted that new-generation models represented by Seedance2.0 and Keling 3.0 (可灵3.0) have substantially improved the texture and realism of AI characters, reducing viewers’ “uncanny valley” rejection. Meanwhile, the number of human extras at traditional live-action filming bases such as Hengdian (横店) has been affected by the impact of AI Duanju (AI短剧), leaving approximately 140,000 extras facing pressure to transition, with some pivoting to new positions such as theme park NPCs; AI Duanju (AI短剧) subject matter has also driven commercialization attempts in offline scenarios such as Chinese-style immersive tours. Beiwenyuanqi ( Beijing ) Shuzi Keji (北文元启(北京)数字科技有限公司), established as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Beijing Wenhua (北京文化), operates in the areas of digital cultural creative software development, animation and game development, scripted entertainment activities and virtual digital character content, and is viewed as a signal of traditional film and television companies’ transition toward light-asset IP derivatives and immersive entertainment. AI-generated virtual digital character images have also begun entering the medical science communication short-video sector, with some accounts using AI-generated “doctor” virtual personas for false medical promotion, drawing regulatory and media attention.