Moretti or Sinclair: Why dragons, elves and 'mafia' are taking over your feed
A growing trend of AI-generated short dramas featuring digital likenesses of popular actors is gaining traction on social media. These microdramas often utilize tropes from mafia romance and fantasy genres to drive user engagement and app downloads.
Why it matters
The rise of AI-driven entertainment highlights shifting consumption habits and the potential for synthetic media to disrupt traditional content production.
MANILA, Philippines - You're living under a rock, so to speak, if you haven't come across those AI memes or clips of ridiculously handsome men with last names like Moretti, Sinclair, Blackwood or Vance, who can sometimes transform into mythical creatures such as dragons or foxes, depending on whether the genre is fantasy or dark mafia romance.
Shorts, microdramas or vertical dramas have been all the rage in recent years. The stories are nothing new: a mafia boss falls in love with a down-on-her-luck, unsuspecting woman. Or, if you're into Chinese dramas, a 21st-century woman gets transported into a novel or book. Live actors star in these dramas, many of them lesser known than mainstream stars.
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