Recent reports have highlighted a growing phenomenon in AI-generated short dramas: characters are increasingly sporting nearly identical facial features. Young women are consistently depicted with almond-shaped eyes, petal-like lips, and porcelain skin, while middle-aged female characters all share straight eyebrows, large double eyelids, and defined lip contours—even their expressions of intense crying or laughter are eerily similar. This striking resemblance has left many viewers feeling disoriented, as if trapped in a visual loop, and has even caused physical discomfort for some.

In response, Hongguo Short Drama has recently issued an announcement regulating AI character creation, explicitly requiring that AI-generated roles avoid uniformity and eliminate repetitive designs. The platform also revealed plans to launch a special campaign targeting frequently used AI faces, homogenized content, and material violations in the near future.

AI short dramas have broken free from the constraints of traditional actor selection, yet creators who can now "sculpt" faces at will find themselves facing a puzzling outcome: why does everyone end up looking the same? The answer lies in two economic ledgers—one on the demand side and one on the supply side.

"We don't want to use these faces either, but we have no choice," said Ding Yi, an AI short video director. For creators, assigning a "generic face" or "average face" to their characters significantly reduces both time and computational costs. The entire appeal of using AI for short dramas is rooted in speed and affordability. According to data shared by multiple production teams, including Zhengzhou Rixin Yueyi Culture Communication Co., Ltd., a mature AIGC workflow can produce a single short drama in just 7 to 14 days, with costs controlled between 15,000 and 20,000 RMB. Even externally sourced generic AI short dramas cost only 30,000 to 50,000 RMB. In contrast, conventional live-action short dramas require 20 to 30 days of shooting, with ordinary productions costing 300,000 to 500,000 RMB, and premium productions starting at over one million RMB.

As a production model built for fast-paced output, investing time in meticulously refining each character's face runs counter to the expectations of all parties involved. Consequently, the pre-set "average faces" embedded in models like Keling and Jimeng have become the most practical choice. These generic faces not only save time but also reduce computational demands. Computing power serves as the "fuel" for AI short dramas and represents a hard cost for creators. Training a unique face requires multiple rounds of prompt adjustments, and every retry generates a Token bill. A short drama blogger revealed that her computing costs were approximately 500 RMB per hour when she first started using AI tools, but have since surged to 15,000 RMB per hour. Ding Yi also noted that as more creators enter the space, platform subsidies for tokens have been steadily decreasing. When every bit of computing power counts, using limited resources to complete a story seems far more important than how the protagonist looks.

Deeper cost calculations originate from the supply side. For large models like Keling and Jimeng that power AI short drama production, offering creators a wider variety of faces is a thankless task. Economist Pan Helin pointed out that the root cause of "uniform faces" is that most AI video generation companies lack facial copyrights, and similarities between AI actors and real celebrities could lead to unnecessary legal complications. For AI companies to generate more unique and recognizable faces, they would need to purchase vast and diverse facial databases, which involves complex copyright negotiations and legal risks.

Meanwhile, a dual-track reality is emerging: on one hand, celebrities like Joey Wong, Wu Qihua, and Qi Wei are actively licensing their likenesses to major platforms; on the other hand, an ordinary blogger known as "Bai Cai" had her image surreptitiously captured and replicated in the AI short drama "Peach Blossom Hairpin." Faces have become a valuable asset in the AI short drama era, subject to both legitimate transactions and outright theft. Recently, Joey Wong formally licensed her youthful portrait materials to NetEase's game "World." The subsequent AI short film "Qian Ying" recreated her classic screen personas such as Nie Xiaoqian and Bai Suzhen, with the credits listing "Joey Wong (AI)."

Ding Yi refers to the process of designing AI actor faces as "creating assets." He explained, "Creating assets is quite troublesome, so I directly use my own face and those of my friends, obtaining their authorization upfront." Together with his friends, they now perform a full range of emotions in AI short dramas. He believes this approach not only avoids infringement risks but also gives his work a more human touch, making it easier for audiences to connect with the characters.

However, creators like Ding Yi who proactively secure facial copyrights remain a minority. Truly resolving the "uniform faces" problem will require platform-level intervention. "In the short term, I believe the trend of AI short dramas featuring similar faces will continue. If large model companies can enrich their training materials and gradually expand facial diversity, this issue might eventually be resolved," Pan Helin said. Yet beyond regulatory pressure, do large model companies genuinely have the incentive to invest real money into solving this problem?

Another reality is that the current audience actually paying for AI short dramas does not demand much from the faces on screen. Ding Yi observed, "Many people feel that short dramas with similar-looking faces are perfectly watchable. They just listen to the dialogue and don't have high expectations for the visuals. Those who care about image quality go watch live-action dramas or medium-to-long-form content instead." Short dramas, particularly AI-generated ones, remain a category of content that many view as requiring neither intellectual engagement nor even visual attention. These low-cost, "generic face" AI dramas offer volume and affordability in abundance. For creators currently in the market, artistic pursuit remains a niche and secondary consideration.

Nevertheless, with strengthened regulation, intensifying content competition, and growing creator awareness, we can still look forward to a future where AI short dramas achieve true "thousand faces for thousand people"—especially since even acclaimed director Jia Zhangke has admitted to being hooked on short dramas.