Người dùng Việt chi tiền triệu 'cày' phim ngắn do AI sản xuất

Spending millions to 'binge' AI short films

Despite promising herself to go to bed early, Huyen Trang still topped up 99,000 VND into a short film app to finish the remaining episodes of an AI-generated series.

"The content is nonsense, the plot is predictable, and the AI actors aren't real people, but it's so addictive, I just can't stop," shared Huyen Trang, 36, from Ho Chi Minh City.

Trang said that previously, she often watched a few short episodes intermittently while scrolling through Facebook. They usually ended right at a cliffhanger, making her curious even though she had seen similar scripts before. She decided to download the app, initially using it for free and accepting ads, but later spent money to "top up points" to comfortably watch the entire content.

"With prices starting from 10,000 VND and many first-time promotions, I didn't hesitate to pay," Trang said.

The top-up interface of a short video app. Photo: Bao Lam

Similarly, Quoc Huy (Da Nang) initially watched AI films for free on YouTube, TikTok, or Facebook Reels as "re-uploads," but the quality was very poor due to edited images, low resolution, and cropped angles that were frustrating. Gradually, he accepted paying for the app.

"Many times, the plot was so irresistible that I wanted to pay to finish it; there were nights I topped up several times," Huy said. When subscribing to a package, he "didn't worry at all" because the amount was small, but at the end of the month, he was surprised that the total reached up to a million VND.

On social media, many people also shared that they only pay a few tens of thousands of VND for their favorite series, but end up spending from several hundred thousand to several million VND each month. Initially, they mainly watched human-acted films, but gradually switched to AI films due to their more diverse and abundant content.

On short film platforms like ReelShort, NetShort, DramaWave, PineDrama, FreeReels, etc., each film is divided into 50-100 episodes, with each episode lasting a few minutes, ending at a cliffhanger to stimulate viewers to "swipe" to the next one. Users top up packages ranging from 10,000 VND to millions to "unlock VIP" monthly or buy points to watch individual episodes.

Quoc Huy said that most short video apps and the films on them originate from China, and are localized or dubbed using AI. The content spans many topics such as romance, action, sci-fi... and even uses one script for multiple film genres.

Statistics from consulting firm Deloitte show that global revenue from short films in apps reached 3.8 billion USD in 2025, expected to reach 7.8 billion USD this year. Although revenue between human-acted and AI films is not separated, according to Channel News Asia, out of 128,000 short films released in China in the first quarter of 2026, 95% were created using AI, equivalent to 121,600 films. Financial Times cited data as of May indicating that 89 out of the top 100 short films on Douyin were AI products.

According to the 2025 App Market Report by Sensor Tower earlier this year, short film apps have entered the group of most popular entertainment applications instead of being niche products. In the fourth quarter of 2025, short drama apps surpassed OTT streaming services in Vietnam in terms of downloads. According to statistics from the platform Adjust, for the whole year of 2025, Vietnamese people spent 11.5 million USD (302 billion VND) on this genre.

Sensor Tower data on entertainment app downloads, in which short films (green) are rising vertically, surpassing television apps in 2025. Screenshot

Dr. Le Duy Tan, co-founder of the AIoT Lab VN and lecturer at the International University - Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, assesses that the wave of AI-generated film production is spreading as video creation tools become popular, intelligent, and easy to use, such as Google Veo, Runway, or TikTok Symphony. Anyone with an idea can turn a description into a film scene.

"AI not only increases the quantity but also accelerates content production speed, creating many versions in a short time," Dr. Tan explained. "When near-infinite supply meets a recommendation system also operated by AI, a very powerful loop is created: AI creates content - AI distributes content - AI measures viewer reactions - AI continues to select more suitable content for that person."

Hoang Minh, who specializes in making AI films with a YouTube channel of 200,000 followers, said the common point of this type of content is that it does not need images to be too realistic or lifelike. "The appeal comes from scripts that create satisfaction," Minh said.

"Satisfaction-creating scripts" are usually "getting into an accident and possessing superpowers," "a CEO pretending to be poor," "a poor boy/girl changing their life overnight," or "the person who endures is an anonymous billionaire." "Most are predictable, but many people want to watch until the end," Minh said. "Audiences are willing to spend money to watch things that make them feel satisfied."

According to Dr. Tan, besides content, one reason AI videos are attractive relates to algorithms capable of "learning" from many behavioral signals: which video they stop at, how long they watch, whether they re-watch, like, comment, share, or skip. Over time, the system "knows" which content has the potential to hold each person's attention.

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Sang, Head of the Department of Clinical Psychology - Rehabilitation - Traditional Medicine at Children's Hospital 2, believes that the appeal of short videos comes from creating a fast and repetitive reward chain. Common signs are that users often watch longer than expected, open their phones unconsciously, set limits many times but fail to follow through, feel uncomfortable or restless when not watching, constantly stay up late to watch videos, delay studying or work, or reduce physical activity, communication, or previous hobbies.

"Short videos even become almost the only tool for emotional regulation. Whenever they feel sad, stressed, lonely, angry, or bored, they pick up their phone to watch," Dr. Sang said. "Many signs appear together, persist, and begin to cause functional impairment in life."

According to the doctor, those who feel they are watching too many short videos do not necessarily need to "quit completely" immediately. Instead, they need a step-by-step roadmap, starting by observing actual behavior by checking Screen Time data for a week to know how much time they actually spend, at what times, and in what state they open short videos. After that, make changes such as limiting viewing hours, turning off notifications, setting app usage timers, and not bringing the phone to bed.

Meanwhile, Huyen Trang said she has set budget and time limits, not topping up money emotionally just to unlock the next episode. "Ultimately, short videos themselves are not the 'enemy.' What needs to be controlled is ourselves," Dr. Sang advised.

Bao Lam