From 2025 to 2026

the rapid development of AI video generation technologies represented by Sensetime Seko

ByteDance Seedance 2.0 and Fengping Zhineng Youxi AI has triggered a wave of technological egalitarianism in the short drama industry

with production costs compressed by more than 90% and cycles shortened from months to days. While the industry entry threshold is greatly lowered

less than 5% of AI short dramas achieve market breakthroughs

with narrative quality becoming the core shortcoming. Starting from the practical context of China's AI short drama industry

this paper adopts a mixed research method combining industry data analysis and in-depth case studies to explore the reconstruction of short drama production power structure by AI technology

and the narrative dilemmas brought by technological egalitarianism such as algorithmic emotional expression and thematic homogenization. It further reveals the sustainable survival strategies of small and medium-sized teams

including AI-friendly theme selection

human-AI collaborative workflow innovation and aesthetic judgment cultivation. The study holds that the AI short drama industry is shifting from the "technological dividend period" to the "content deep cultivation period"

and "narrative return" is not a simple regression to traditional paradigms but a reconstruction of emotional expression and aesthetic judgment systems within human-AI collaborative frameworks. AI short dramas are gradually becoming an important carrier of Chinese cultural outreach

and the balance between artistry and commerciality is the key to the industry's sustainable development.