Mu isn’t the only comic who has attempted to mimic the style of AI videos. However, he nail all the essential elements, including the awkward body movements, spaced out facial expressions, as well as the unpredictable plot. He captured exactly the spirit of AI slop videos.
Mu says that his half dozen AI impersonation videos are only a part of the acting career he’s had. He has wanted to be an actor since college and spent the summer after his freshman year at Hengdian World Studios—the world’s largest film studio—looking for background acting opportunities. Since 2019, he has been creating comedy sketches for Chinese social media. Content creation is now his main focus.
A Chinese AI generative company sponsored him for 80,000 RMB ($11,000), which he used to create two sketches that promoted the model video of this company. It’s a good gig but I thought Mu would have gotten more work because of his virality.
Mu was sponsored to shoot two sketches: one that included AI-generated clips and another without. Secretly, he hoped that the advertiser would select the second version because the human actors are prominently displayed. However, the AI version was chosen by the advertiser. “That kind of feels like it’s starting to steal jobs from human actors, doesn’t it?” Mu speaks
Mu appeared on my timeline last week again when he released a sequel His first AI series this time mimicking the videos created by Sora, OpenAI’s latest generative video tool. It is a much more subtle video but it still manages the same unsettling effect that continues to be felt even with AI videos becoming more advanced.
Mu says that as AI continues to advance, there will be a battle between humans and machines. But it isn’t man against machine. It’s not man versus machine but humans and humans that make AI models who are constantly competing with each other. “We’re poking fun at some of AI’s flaws, its eeriness and absurdity, but the AI creators are probably improving those, too. You see, this year’s AI already looks much more human,” Mu speaks
The AI Act: How To Be Like AI
Mu studied the common characteristics of AI videos before he created his first AI impersonation sketch in July 2024. Mu wanted to know what mistakes AI makes, and then recreate them in his scripts.
AI will often mistakenly interpret the purpose of an object in a picture. Hangers are used in China to punish children, as well as hang up clothes. The dual-purpose of the hanger inspired another one Mu’s last video, which he filmed in 2011, wherein he pretended to hit him midway. “son” Mu hangs his shorts on a hook, but the boy’s pants mysteriously fall off. It’s as though he forgot what he was trying to do.
