China releases first short video AI production platform

CHENGDU - China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and internet giant Alibaba on Thursday jointly launched the country's first short video intelligent production platform to improve news reporting efficiency.

The platform, with the domain name "magic.shuwen.com.", made its debut at the 6th China Emerging Media Industry Integration and Development Conference in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

As the first application of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the field of media integration, the platform is independently developed by Xinhua Zhiyun Technology Co Ltd, a joint venture founded by Xinhua and Alibaba.

At the conference, the platform gave a real-time demonstration of the short video intelligent production process. On Thursday morning alone, it produced 186 short videos, among which 97 were produced by AI and the other 89 by man-machine collaboration.

Currently, all domestic media outlets can use the platform to produce high-quality short videos after applying for certification via the website, according to the conference.

With the advent of the 5G era, short videos will become the main carrier of news reporting in the future. Liu Siyang, vice president of Xinhua, said that the platform will help editorial staff produce more short videos that users are drawn to.

Multiple news templates are set up on the platform, including politics, emergencies, sports, fashion and entertainment. The platform is able to analyze and capture information with high news value, such as fires, earthquakes and other emergencies, so as to help journalists and editors save time when reporting.

In specific fields such as sports live broadcasting and financial news, it realizes data visualization, data-to-video transformation and video production automation.

The platform enables journalists and editors to devote themselves to more valuable reporting work where human beings cannot easily be replaced by machines, said Shao Xiaofeng, secretary-general of the Alibaba group.