Spectacularization and Platform Visibility: A Content Analysis of AI-Generated Short Videos on Bilibili
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63313/SSH.9145Keywords:
Generative AI, AI-Generated Short Videos, Media Spectacle, Platform Visibility, BilibiliAbstract
Generative AI is reshaping short-video production and expanding the range of experiences that can be visually represented. Drawing on 60 AI-generated short videos on Bilibili, this study combines content analysis with the walkthrough method to examine spectacularized representation and platform visibility. The findings show that AI-generated short videos largely retain established genres and narrative structures, while using generative techniques to reorganize everyday rules governing bodies, life, space-time, technology, and environments. This process is conceptualized as the“visual reconfiguration of the rules of reality.”Platform visibility is further shaped through AI-related labels, search and recommendation pathways, and thematic or competition pages. The study argues that AI-generated short videos move from making non-everyday experiences viewable to making them visible on platforms, with media spectacle emerging through the interaction of generative technology, content expression, and platform organization.
References
[1] Chen, H. (2026). A carnival of the five senses and the presumption of falsity: “Atmosphere production” and the acceptance contract of AI micro-dramas. Ningxia Social Sciences, (1), 193–201.
[2] Li, L. (2015). From the society of the spectacle to media spectacle: Concept borrowing and theoretical transformation in academic research. Xinwen Jie [News Circle], (3), 24–30.
[3] Liu, Y. (2022). The spectacle of life and life in the spectacle: On image-based existence in the short-video era. Xinwen yu Xiezuo [News and Writing], (4), 24–32.
[4] Lü, P., & Cui, Y. (2026). From objective facts to relational authenticity: A cognitive shift in authenticity within AI-generated short-video contexts. Journal of Zhengzhou University (Philosophy and Social Sciences Edition), 59(4), 157–166.
[5] Luo, Y. (2026). Characteristics and creative pathways of AI short dramas from the perspective of the “material turn” in philosophy of technology. New Media Research, 12(5), 118–123.
[6] Wang, Y. (2026). AI generation and platform domestication: Native aesthetics and narrative reconstruction of online micro-dramas—A study of the “AI dianju” phenomenon. Northern Media Research, (1), 114–117.
[7] Zhou, H., & Li, S. (2026). From technological empowerment to value disorder: Mechanisms and governance of ideological risks in the circulation of AI-generated short videos. Modern Communication (Journal of Communication University of China), 48(4), 159–168.
[8] Kellner, D. (2003). Media spectacle. Routledge.
[9] Lyu, Y., Zhang, H., Niu, S., & Cai, J. (2024). A preliminary exploration of YouTubers’ use of generative AI in content creation. In Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24) (pp. 1–7). Association for Computing Machinery.
[10] Tang, J., Yu, X., Wikström, P., & Pappalardo, K. (2026). Behind the “AI slop”: Exploring AI-generated viral short-video production in China. AI & Society. Advance online publication.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00146-026-03254-9
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 by author(s) and Erytis Publishing Limited
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
