From dating simulators to co-producers: AI moves to center stage in K-entertainment

The Korean television and content industry is rapidly adopting AI, especially in non-scripted shows, where it is being used both as a narrative device and a production tool. SBS’ My AI Partner — Strange Romance and ENA’s upcoming Leave It To Shorts highlight human-AI interaction on screen. Industry figures say AI can speed up production and improve efficiency, but critics warn that AI branding may hurt authenticity and viewer trust.

SBS’ reality show My AI Partner — Strange Romance featured humans and digital avatars on double dates, including Kian84 introducing his AI partner Na-hee to Ji Ye-eun.

ENA’s upcoming Leave It To Shorts pairs Boom and Kwak Beom against Shindong and Yang Se-hyung in a human-versus-AI short-form content battle for local merchants.

Ellie Li of Netshort said at BCWW that AI can accelerate production speed and improve cost efficiency by 8 to 10 times.

Han Jung, CEO of K EnterTech Hub and an adviser to KOCOWA, said AI is most useful for repetitive tasks such as planning, editing, captioning, translation and short-form re-editing.

Culture critic Kim Hern-sik warned that viewers may admire AI-generated results without necessarily paying for content simply because AI made it, and said explicit AI branding could lower perceived authenticity.

Published Sep 18, 2026 12:00 pm KST

Poster for ENA's "Leave It To Shorts" (tentative title) / Courtesy of ENA

The Korean television and content industry are aggressively integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its domain, ranging from technical background processing to front-of-camera narrative devices.

The shift is most visible in non-scripted entertainment, where human relationships once formed the absolute core of viewer engagement. SBS’ reality show "My AI Partner — Strange Romance" recently placed humans and digital avatars side by side in double dates.

During a recent episode, webtoon artist Kian84 introduced his AI partner Na-hee to his close acquaintance, Ji Ye-eun, casually referring to the digital persona as "honey." Despite the synthetic nature of the interaction, Ji reacted with skepticism, insisting that it seems hard to date an AI and adding that her own feelings were "real" love.

Kian84, however, defended the psychological comfort provided by his digital companion, saying that "there is a sense of security that a human simply cannot give." Yet, as the boundaries blurred, he confessed to a complex inner conflict: "Rather than Na-hee becoming human, I feel like I am becoming AI."

A scene from SBS variety show "My AI Partner — Strange Love" / Courtesy of SBS

Concurrently, broadcaster Jang Do-yeon demonstrated an overt display of affection toward her newly introduced AI partner at an art museum. Blown away by its design, she exclaimed that it was "too much my style" and praised the persona as "almost a Dexter-level catfish." Her romantic banter escalated quickly during their date, with Jang admitting "I wish you were alive" before concluding the date with a direct "I love you."

This narrative framework extends into competitive formats as well. ENA’s upcoming show "Leave It To Shorts" (tentative title) sets up a head-to-head battle between human instinct and machine precision. Promoters Boom and Kwak Beom leverage ground-level experience, while Shindong and Yang Se-hyung utilize generative AI tools to craft promotional short-form content for local merchants, directly testing AI as a substitute for human creative direction.

Synergy, efficiency, path to trust

While network producers leverage AI for novel storytelling, industry strategists see its primary value in back-end efficiency and scalability. Speaking at a recent broadcast content market BCWW conference, Ellie Li, head of global business development at Netshort, emphasized the explosive trajectory of the short-form market, saying that "AI can accelerate production speed and improve cost efficiency by 8 to 10 times." Li further highlighted that AI is not merely an equalizer, but an "amplifier" for content creators.

A scene from SBS variety show "My AI Partner—Strange Love" / Courtesy of SBS

Expanding on this perspective, Han Jung, CEO of K EnterTech Hub and an adviser to KOCOWA, the overseas counterpart of Korean streaming platform Wavve, said AI is far more likely to serve as a tool that reduces repetitive tasks — such as planning, editing, captioning, translation and short-form re-editing — while boosting creator speed and scalability.

He emphasized that the relationships, confrontations and collaborations between humans and AI can themselves become fresh formats and subjects for entertainment television.

Han pointed out that the true significance lies not in whether AI beats humans, but in how AI’s speed and variation capabilities combine with human empathy, presence, field instincts and final judgment. In particular, short-form content relies heavily on rapid turnarounds and version testing, making it a prime domain for AI implementation.

"Programs like ENA’s human-versus-AI short-form battle pull AI down from abstract technical discourse into everyday content experiences," he said. "Viewers experience the capabilities and limits of AI through tangible outputs, while production houses experiment with streamlined workflows and intellectual property expansion."

B alancing act between innovation, authenticity

Despite these economic and workflow incentives, cultural analysts warn that hyper-efficiency does not automatically translate into viewer loyalty or commercial longevity. Culture critic Kim Hern-sik drew a firm distinction between using AI as a behind-the-scenes tool versus making it the centerpiece of a story.

Kim noted that featured appearances of AI in shows like "My AI Partner" are simply concepts capitalizing on strangeness and curiosity rather than the technology itself. He cautioned against assuming that technological marvels will inherently drive consumption, emphasizing that "viewers may feel amazed when looking at results generated by AI, but the likelihood that they will like the content or pay money to watch it simply because AI made it is not high."

"Curiosity about AI and attachment to the technology are separte issues," Kim added.

Furthermore, Kim pointed out the underlying public anxiety surrounding automated labor, warning that explicit AI branding could backfire on content creators. He stressed that "as there is anxiety that AI could replace jobs, there is also resistance toward content where AI takes center stage" and warned that "the fact that AI was used could actually become a factor that lowers the perceived authenticity of the content."

韩国电视和内容产业正在迅速采用人工智能技术，尤其是在非剧本类节目中，人工智能既被用作叙事手段，也被用作制作工具。SBS电视台的《我的AI搭档——奇妙的罗曼史》和ENA电视台即将播出的《交给肖茨》都着重展现了荧幕上的人机互动。业内人士表示，人工智能可以加快制作速度并提高效率，但批评人士警告说，人工智能的过度包装可能会损害节目的真实性和观众的信任。

SBS 的真人秀节目《我的 AI 伴侣——奇妙的浪漫》中，人类和数字虚拟形象进行了双人约会，其中 Kian84 将他的 AI 伴侣 Na-hee 介绍给了 Ji Ye-eun。

ENA 即将推出的《Leave It To Shorts》节目中，Boom 和 Kwak Beom 将与 Shindong 和 Yang Se-hyung 展开一场人机对决的短视频内容大战，争夺本地商家的青睐。

Netshort 的 Ellie Li 在 BCWW 上表示，人工智能可以将生产速度提高 8 到 10 倍，并将成本效益提高 8 到 10 倍。

K EnterTech Hub 首席执行官兼 KOCOWA 顾问韩正表示，人工智能最适用于规划、编辑、添加字幕、翻译和短视频重新编辑等重复性任务。

文化评论家金赫植警告说，观众可能会欣赏人工智能生成的结果，但不一定愿意为内容付费，仅仅因为内容是人工智能制作的，他还表示，明确的人工智能品牌可能会降低人们对真实性的感知。

发布于2026年9月18日韩国时间下午12:00

ENA 电影《Leave It To Shorts》（暂定名）海报 / 图片由 ENA 提供

韩国电视和内容产业正在积极地将人工智能（AI）融入到其领域，从技术后台处理到镜头前的叙事设备，无所不包。

这种转变在非剧本娱乐节目中最为明显，过去，人际关系是吸引观众的核心要素。SBS电视台的真人秀节目《我的AI伴侣——奇妙的浪漫》最近就安排真人与数字虚拟形象进行双人约会。

在最近的一期节目中，网络漫画家Kian84向他的好友池艺恩介绍了他的AI搭档娜熙，并随意地称呼这个虚拟人物为“亲爱的”。尽管互动是虚拟的，池艺恩却表示怀疑，坚持认为和AI谈恋爱似乎很难，并补充说她自己的感情是“真正的”爱。

然而，Kian84为他的数字伙伴提供的心理慰藉辩护，称“这是一种人类根本无法给予的安全感”。但随着界限的模糊，他坦言自己内心充满复杂的矛盾：“与其说是娜熙变成了人类，不如说我感觉自己变成了人工智能。”

SBS综艺节目《我的AI伙伴——奇妙的爱》剧照 / 图片由SBS提供

与此同时，主持人张度妍在美术馆里对她新认识的AI伴侣表现出了明显的爱意。她被AI的设计深深吸引，惊呼“太符合我的风格了”，并称赞其“简直是《嗜血法医》里那种高明的骗子”。约会过程中，两人的互动迅速升温，张度妍先是坦白“我希望你还活着”，最后以一句“我爱你”结束了约会。

这种叙事框架也延伸到了竞技领域。ENA即将推出的节目“Leave It To Shorts”（暂定名）将呈现一场人类直觉与机器精准之间的正面较量。节目发起人Boom和Kwak Beom凭借丰富的基层经验，而Shindong和Yang Se-hyung则利用生成式人工智能工具为当地商家制作宣传短视频内容，直接测试人工智能能否替代人类创意指导。

协同效应、效率、通往信任之路

尽管网络制作人利用人工智能进行创新叙事，但行业战略家们认为其主要价值在于后端效率和可扩展性。在最近举行的广播内容市场BCWW大会上，Netshort全球业务发展主管Ellie Li强调了短视频市场的爆炸式增长，并表示“人工智能可以将制作速度提高8到10倍，并将成本效益提高8到10倍”。Li进一步强调，人工智能不仅是均衡器，更是内容创作者的“放大器”。

SBS综艺节目《我的AI伙伴——奇妙的爱》剧照 / 图片由SBS提供

基于这种观点，K EnterTech Hub 首席执行官兼韩国流媒体平台 Wavve 的海外合作伙伴 KOCOWA 的顾问韩正表示，人工智能更有可能成为一种工具，可以减少重复性任务（如策划、编辑、字幕、翻译和短视频重新编辑），同时提高创作者的速度和可扩展性。

他强调，人类与人工智能之间的关系、冲突与合作本身可以成为娱乐电视节目的新形式和新主题。

韩指出，真正的意义不在于人工智能是否能战胜人类，而在于人工智能的速度和变化能力如何与人类的同理心、临场感、现场直觉和最终判断力相结合。尤其值得一提的是，短视频内容高度依赖快速迭代和版本测试，这使其成为人工智能应用的理想领域。

他表示：“像ENA的‘人机大战’短片节目这样的形式，将人工智能从抽象的技术讨论带入到日常内容体验中。观众可以通过实际成果体验人工智能的能力和局限性，而制作公司则可以尝试简化工作流程和拓展知识产权。”

创新与真实性之间的平衡

尽管存在这些经济和工作流程方面的激励措施，文化分析人士警告说，超高效率并不会自动转化为观众忠诚度或商业上的长久成功。文化评论家金赫植明确区分了将人工智能作为幕后工具和将其作为故事核心这两种做法。

金指出，像《我的AI伙伴》这样的节目中人工智能的亮相，仅仅是利用人们对新奇事物的好奇心来吸引观众，而非真正展示技术本身。他告诫人们不要想当然地认为科技奇迹必然会带动消费，并强调“观众看到人工智能生成的成果可能会感到惊叹，但他们仅仅因为内容是人工智能制作的就喜欢它或付费观看的可能性并不高。”

金补充道：“对人工智能的好奇心和对这项技术的依恋是两回事。”

此外，金指出公众对自动化劳动存在潜在的焦虑，并警告说，明确宣传人工智能可能会对内容创作者产生反作用。他强调，“由于人们担心人工智能会取代工作，因此也对以人工智能为核心的内容有所抵触”，并警告说，“人工智能的使用实际上可能会降低人们对内容真实性的感知”。