South Korea’s EBS unveils four short films in first AI-produced TV show

EBS AI Short Film Theater’s Toto & Friends’ World Exploration, Mind Game: The Trap of First Impressions, Ibiz’s Study of Humans and Human AI Goes to Court

South Korean educational broadcaster EBS is set to launch its first fully artificial intelligence (AI)-produced television show as it seeks to use the tech to usher in a new era of K-content.

EBS will premiere EBS AI Short Film Theater (1×30′) on Friday June 27, featuring four short films spanning animation, sci-fi, documentary and fantasy.

The pubcaster said each film has been created through collaboration between EBS producers and generative AI tools at various stages of production, from scripting and visualisation to editing.

Each episode is designed to highlight not only storytelling innovation but also the social and educational potential of human-AI collaboration, EBS added.

The four films are: Toto & Friends’ World Exploration, an animated educational adventure for children set in Greece; Mind Game: The Trap of First Impressions, a documentary examining unconscious bias; Ibiz’s Study of Humans, in which an AI character meets historical figures in search of meaning and identity; and Human AI Goes to Court.

The latter is a futuristic courtroom drama exploring cultural clashes and ethical dilemmas among humanoid AIs in a legal setting.

EBS said it is aiming to spark a wider conversation about the ethical, creative and practical implications of AI in media in classrooms and homes and the films will be followed up by other projects using generative AI.

The move is being positioned not just as a technological experiment but as part of a wider strategic vision for the future of K-content.

Professor Samseog Ko, of Dongguk University’s AI Convergence College, said: “The impact of cutting-edge technologies such as AI, metaverse and digital twins on the content industry is not just a trend but a catalyst for paradigm shifts. Generative AI and similar technologies are fundamentally changing the way content is created and experienced.

“The future path for K-content lies at the intersection of technological innovation and creative imagination. Content created through collaboration between AI and humans will drive the new evolution of culture and industry. The creativity born from collaboration between AI and humans will make possible a new wave of cultural content.”