AI zombie video on Singapore’s National Day sparks talk – is this the future of film?

When Singaporeans tuned in to watch the annual National Day Parade on Sunday, an AI-generated short film depicting a zombie apocalypse version of the event has generated buzz in the city state.The four-minute-long Bersama Majulah, a spin-off from the human-written, Artificial Intelligence-generated Spore Fall video series, shows a spore pathogenic outbreak spreading across the fictional city of Lionara, which bears resemblance to Singapore’s skyline complete with the Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum and Merlion.Joel Boh, creator and showrunner of Spore Fall, Southeast Asia’s first human-written, AI-realised transmedia franchise, noted that despite criticisms of “AI slop”, the viewing retention rate was 85 to 93 per cent for the short film, which is available on YouTube.“We’ve seen everything from genuine curiosity to passionate critique. And we welcome it all. The fact that people are talking – whether in support or in criticism – tells us the film is landing as intended. We view the debate as a healthy sign of cultural impact,” Boh told This Week in Asia.Bersama Majulah shows a spore pathogenic outbreak spreading across the fictional city of Lionara, which bears resemblance to Singapore’s skyline. Photo: EdenstoneHe added: “They’re watching till the end – just to leave a negative comment. That suggests something deeper. Audiences are hungry for connection, but they can’t quite get past the fact that the content is AI-generated. They feel strongly enough to finish engaging, only to push back on the medium.”The “soul of the work”, like the story arcs and character motivations, is written by humans, with AI only used to handle the execution of the environment, visual effects, and production scaling, according to Boh.