I Watched 25 AI Vertical Dramas. Here's What I Learned
AI is creating shockwaves across the vertical drama industry.
Some of our favourite apps are cancelling live-action projects and pivoting towards AI. NetShort has stormed the global charts with AI-generated titles, and if you browse the trending lists on almost any app right now – yes, even ReelShort – you'll see AI series sitting alongside live-action productions.
Whether we like it or not, AI has arrived.
As someone who writes about this industry every day, I felt I had a responsibility to understand what was happening. If millions of people are watching these shows, I wanted to know why. More importantly, I didn't want to become one of those people who criticises something they've never actually experienced.
We've seen that happen before. One of the most famous examples in the UK was Monty Python's Life of Brian. Many of the people condemning it later admitted they'd never actually watched the film. They'd simply read about it or repeated what someone else had said.
I didn't want to make that mistake.
So over the course of a week I watched around 25 AI vertical dramas across DramaBox, DramaWave, NetShort and ReelShort. I went into the experience with an open mind. I wasn't looking for reasons to hate them, nor was I expecting to become an overnight convert. I simply wanted to see what millions of viewers were seeing.
Some of the results surprised me. Some frustrated me. And by the end, I found myself asking questions that went far beyond AI itself.
The quality is all over the place
The first thing that struck me was just how inconsistent the quality is.
Some productions took me several minutes to realise they were AI. The visuals were polished, the dialogue flowed reasonably well and, if you weren't paying close attention, you could almost forget you weren't watching real actors.
Others, however, were impossible to ignore. Characters' outfits changed halfway through scenes. Mouth movements didn't quite match the dialogue. Facial expressions felt exaggerated and there was that familiar AI style where every line seemed to be delivered at maximum intensity, regardless of what was actually happening.
In many ways it reminded me of the early days of live-action vertical dramas. Some productions were excellent, while others clearly hadn't found their feet yet. AI isn't one thing. There are already huge differences in quality between platforms and productions, and I suspect those differences will only become more noticeable as the technology develops.
Fantasy is where AI genuinely shines
If there is one genre where AI has a clear advantage, it's fantasy.
Magic. Dragons. Greek gods. Steampunk cities. Vast battlefields. Elaborate palaces. AI can create worlds that would cost millions to build in live action, and it can do so at remarkable speed. Instead of spending months creating visual effects for a single series, studios can produce multiple fantasy dramas in the same amount of time.
It's easy to understand why production companies are excited.
Watching these shows, I could absolutely see the appeal. The world building is often spectacular and, in some cases, genuinely beautiful.
That said, I still found myself admiring traditional filmmaking more. I kept thinking about productions like Beneath Crimson Sails and the creativity involved in bringing those worlds to life using real locations, practical effects, costumes and clever cinematography. There is something deeply satisfying about seeing filmmakers solve impossible problems without simply asking a computer to generate the answer.
Perhaps that's nostalgia on my part. Or perhaps there's still something special about watching real people inhabit those worlds.
The characters are almost too perfect
One thing AI unquestionably excels at is creating beautiful people.
If your primary reason for watching vertical dramas is attractive leads, AI has an obvious advantage. These characters have flawless skin, impossible physiques and perfectly symmetrical faces that no amount of gym memberships or skincare routines could ever produce.
Ironically though, the better productions seem to have realised that perfection isn't actually convincing.
A few freckles. A small scar. Slightly untidy hair. Those tiny imperfections suddenly make the characters feel far more believable.
One thing I did notice, however, was that many of the female characters looked remarkably similar to one another. Change the hairstyle and you've almost created an entirely new cast. The male characters tended to have much greater variety, although somewhere between a third and a half of the fantasy heroes appeared to have been generated using what I can only describe as the "Henry Cavill" setting.
In the end, it still comes down to the story
For all the discussion around AI, the biggest lesson I came away with was that none of the technology really matters if the story isn't engaging.
Out of roughly 25 AI vertical dramas I started, I finished three.
One of them was a young adult martial arts series centred around Taekwondo, and I genuinely enjoyed it. The female lead was strong, the banter worked, the fight scenes were entertaining and, refreshingly, it avoided many of the tropes that often frustrate me in live-action verticals. There wasn't endless bullying, unnecessary humiliation or scenes included purely for shock value.
I found myself thinking exactly the same thing throughout. Why isn't somebody making this as a live-action series? The script deserved real actors. If someone had taken exactly the same story and produced it with a talented cast, it could have been something special.
That, perhaps more than anything else, reminded me that audiences ultimately connect with stories first. Technology may change how they're told, but a compelling narrative still sits at the heart of everything.
AI can imitate performance. It can't replace emotion
This is where my feelings changed.
One of the things that surprised me most was that some of the AI performances weren't actually terrible. That's probably a controversial thing to say, but if I'm going to be fair, I have to acknowledge it. Last summer there was a period where some live-action productions seemed determined to cast models rather than actors, and I'd argue that some of the stronger AI performances were comparable.
But there is a fundamental difference.
Every expression, every pause and every emotional beat AI has learned ultimately comes from human actors making creative choices. It's built upon decades of performances by people whose work has been studied, analysed and absorbed by the technology. Those actors won't receive recognition for that contribution, nor will they receive compensation.
More importantly, I never emotionally connected with a single AI character.
There was always an invisible barrier between me and what I was watching. I could appreciate what the story was trying to do, but I never forgot I was watching something artificial.
During the same week I also watched Not The Bride He Wanted. Mark Pontarelli gave a performance that nearly made me cry. It wasn't because of the dialogue. It was because of the tiny choices he made — the pauses, the expressions, the vulnerability and the emotion behind every line.
That's the difference.
I still haven't seen AI convince me it can replicate that.
It left me with a hollow feeling
Eventually I realised what I was struggling to articulate. Watching AI vertical dramas felt a little like eating junk food. It's enjoyable while you're doing it. You get that immediate dopamine hit. But afterwards, you're left feeling strangely unsatisfied.
I didn't spend the evening thinking about the characters.
I didn't look up the cast afterwards.
I didn't write reviews.
I didn't recommend the shows to friends.
I simply moved on to the next thing.
The best films stay with you.
The best television stays with you.
The best books stay with you.
Now, some people will quite rightly point out that not every live-action vertical achieves that either. Like every genre, there are brilliant productions and there are forgettable ones. But I'll happily die on this hill. The very best live-action vertical dramas are some of the finest romance films and romantic comedies made in the last twenty years. They make me laugh. They make me cry. Long after I've finished watching them, I'm still thinking about the characters. That's something I simply didn't experience with AI.
My biggest concern isn't AI. It's isolation.
Most of the discussion around AI focuses on ethics, copyright, job losses and the environmental impact. Those are all incredibly important conversations, and they're ones the industry absolutely needs to have. But they aren't actually what stayed with me.
The thing I couldn't stop thinking about was isolation.
When I finished watching Not The Bride He Wanted, I immediately looked up the cast. I shared my review, chatted with other fans and ended up discussing Mark Pontarelli's performance with people from different parts of the world.
That conversation became part of the experience. I can't imagine doing that after watching an AI series. The experience simply ended when the final episode finished.
One thing I hear over and over from actors is that the magic isn't just performing in front of the camera. It's being on set. Meeting new people. Solving problems together. Laughing between takes. Those productions don't just create television. They create friendships, future collaborations and entire creative communities.
Fans tell me something remarkably similar. Time and again they say that one of the best things about vertical dramas isn't simply the stories themselves, it's the people they've met because of those stories. The friendships, the group chats and the feeling that they've found a community where people understand their passion.
That's why this matters.
The World Health Organization estimates that one in six people worldwide experiences loneliness, and social connection is now recognised as being fundamental to our health and wellbeing.
If more and more entertainment is created by individuals sitting alone behind computers, and consumed by individuals sitting alone behind screens, I can't help wondering what happens to all those human connections that surround storytelling.
Stories have always brought people together. I'd hate to lose that.
So where do I stand?
I'm glad I watched AI vertical dramas. I understand more why they're attracting audiences. There are some good stories being told, and AI is particularly impressive when it comes to fantasy, visual spectacle and speed of production. I also think there is a place for AI visual effects to support filmmakers in creating worlds that might otherwise be impossible.
But when my little experiment ended, I realised something. I felt relieved to go back to live-action vertical dramas. It felt like coming home.
Not because every live-action vertical is perfect — far from it — but because behind every production are writers, actors, directors, crew members and fans creating something together.
For me, that's what this industry has always been about.
Not simply producing content. Creating stories that move us. And building communities around those stories that continue long after the credits have rolled.