This season also marks the program's first use of AI-generated dynamic human figures. To re-create the bustling night markets of Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shaanxi province) at its peak, the production team built expansive scenes and populated them with vividly rendered crowds.
Yan notes that dynamic character creation requires complex models and immense computing power. After extensive testing, the team combined AI-generated imagery with a custom compositing method, allowing lifelike Chang'an residents to move naturally through the night markets and immerse audiences in a festive atmosphere.
The program also draws on classic imagery to evoke collective memory. With 2025 marking Chinese cinema's 120th anniversary, the show re-creates an open-air movie scene familiar to those born in the 1970s, with neighbors gathered in courtyards, projectors humming, ice pops and watermelon, and palm fans stirring the summer air, gently transporting viewers back to childhood.
As the audiovisual industry shifts from television-led programming to short-form content, Chinese Poetry Conference continues to exhibit vitality.
Yan attributes this longevity to two factors: steady yet flexible content innovation that balances knowledge and entertainment, and a deliberate decision to "slow down" through in-depth interpretation, allowing audiences to fully experience the rhythm, beauty and cultural depth of poetry, and to build lasting trust in a shared culture.
Liao Xiangzhong, Party secretary of the Communication University of China, describes Chinese Poetry Conference as a benchmark for media-enabled dissemination of traditional culture.
"By integrating virtual environments and AI technologies, the program transforms poetic imagery into immersive, participatory audiovisual experiences, vividly demonstrating the creative transformation and innovative development of China's traditional culture in the new era," Liao says.
