At the 2025 Douyin Creator Conference at the end of September, I sensed a clear shift. When Douyin introduced its "AI Creator Wave Plan" as a core topic, the focus of the discussion shifted from whether AI could be used to how to effectively utilize it.
It was Jianying that brought this matter to a climax. When it upgraded its slogan to "All in AI, All in one," a creative relationship that we used to take for granted was being rewritten.
Kiki, the product manager of Jianying, said: "We hope that through AI, creators can escape the tedious process and truly return to the essence of creation - inspiration and expression."
Image source: Geek Park
Editing software used to be a "tool" that we could call upon and dismiss at will. Now, Jianying wants to turn it into a "partner" that can predict your needs, provide you with materials, and even actively create for you. This relationship is a bit like a duet.
This also brings up a proposition that truly belongs to this era: When your tools begin to have "ideas", how should you, as a creator, get along with them?
The younger generation of creators seems to be learning the steps of this dance at a speed far beyond our imagination.
From "keeping a distance" to "indispensable": A creator's AI fantasy journey
Xiaobao, a photographer and editor from the "Jiang Wenyu" team, mentioned his initial "conservative skepticism" about AI during his sharing.
In 2023, when the team put forward some complex special effects requirements, his first reaction was often "It can't be done, just release it directly."
This actually represents the general mentality of many professional creators at the time: the image effects generated by AI were hard to describe, and their practicality was far less reliable than learning and doing it by themselves, even if it meant inefficiency and high costs.
In their view, AI seems more like a toy for amateur players, separated from the industrialized content production process by a river.
The turning point came from an "unexpected rescue".
When editing a commercial, a perfect piece of background music always failed to match the picture perfectly at the emotional point, which almost put him in a dead end.
At the suggestion of his colleagues, he turned on the "AI Instrument Separation" function of Jianying with a try-it attitude. The AI instantly split the music into several independent audio tracks such as vocals, piano, and guitar.
This means that he can break free from the constraints of BGM and freely divide and reorganize the music according to the mood of the narrative, allowing the songs to serve the story rather than letting the story be stuck to the rhythm of the songs.
This was the first time AI had shown him its potential to solve real problems. But what truly changed the team's attitude was an "impossible deadline."
When producing a special episode for TikTok's May Fourth Youth Day, the script was filled with challenging special effects shots like "wildfires" and "cliff explosions." With production and review to be completed within just a few days, outsourcing the special effects using traditional processes was impossible.
The team decided to take a leap of faith and fully embrace AI. On the first day of filming, they tested AI synthesis in the hotel, and the results far exceeded expectations. From that moment on, Xiaobao's mindset shifted. He realized, "Maybe AI isn't here to take my job, but to help me address my shortcomings."
AI is now deeply integrated into the creative process of the "Jiang Wenyu" team. During the creative phase, artists use "Jimeng AI" to generate scene concept art, making abstract ideas concrete. During filming, the team uses mobile phones to shoot test footage on-site and directly feeds it into Jianying to generate AI effects, quickly determining the feasibility of the solution and greatly reducing the cost of trial and error. In post-production, the AI-generated images are manually optimized for details, and Jianying's special effects are used to cleverly cover up flaws, ultimately achieving the desired effect.
Xiaobao's experience perfectly illustrates the process of a mature creator learning new steps, and also reflects the changing role of AI in the creative field. From initial resistance and distrust, believing AI would only step on his toes, to repeated "rescues," he gradually understood its rhythm and capabilities.
He eventually discovered that AI was not there to take the lead dance position, but to be the best "dance partner" - it was responsible for difficult movements (special effects) such as lifting and spinning, while the creator himself could focus more on the core of the dance - the expression of emotions and the control of rhythm.
From "scattered pearls" to "invisible assembly line": the self-revolution of tools
The change in creators' attitudes fundamentally stems from the evolution of the tools themselves.
AI creator AJ once vividly likened the past era of AI tools to the "dot era."
He views technologies like automatic image cutouts, speech synthesis, and AI-generated music as scattered pearls. While each one is impressive, creators must play the role of "stringing the pearls together," juggling dozens of different software programs. "The time saved by using AI is completely wasted switching between tools."
Now, the industry is entering a "chain era." Jianying has built an "end-to-end" AI creation pipeline.
Here, AI is no longer an isolated function, but like an invisible assembly line, seamlessly connecting every link of creation.
This new creative paradigm is reflected in:
From source material matching to story generation: Jianying's "AI Image-to-Text Video" goes beyond simple image stitching. Leveraging a powerful built-in language model, it helps users transform a vague idea into a complete story with a storyboard. Furthermore, leveraging advanced video generation models, it can even achieve cinematic, one-shot camera movements, eliminating the awkward transitions of PowerPoint presentations.
A one-stop, closed-loop experience: In the past, creators often had to generate AI videos in other software and then painstakingly import them into Jianying for fine-tuning. Now, from the spark of inspiration to the generation of materials, track refinement, and special effects synthesis, all steps can be completed smoothly within the Jianying platform.
Comprehensive AI-based sensory dimension: In the audio field, the realism of AI dubbing is enough to challenge real people; while AI music, AI sound effects and the latest "lyric change and cover" function allow creators to gain unprecedented freedom in the world of sound, and largely break free from the constraints of copyright.
When the tool completes the evolution from "point" to "chain", AI becomes the "tacit partner" hidden behind every step of creation.
Amplifier vs. Equalizer: The Creative Ecosystem Reshaped by AI
Who will benefit most from this new AI-driven paradigm? Will it exacerbate the advantages of top creators, or open up opportunities for more ordinary people?
The answer may be both.
For professional teams, AI is an unparalleled "amplifier," enabling wild imaginations to be realized at a very low cost.
The "Film and Television Hurricane" team once imagined that in the future AI might become a real-time "highlight editor", automatically analyzing multiple live broadcast signals and audience emotions, and instantly generating daily highlights, which will greatly liberate human productivity in the later stage.
The "Jiang Wenyu" team also found that with the help of AI, screenwriters are no longer restricted when creating, and dare to add highlight special effects shots that can better enhance emotions into the script, thereby continuously broadening the boundaries of content expression.
For newcomers and cross-disciplinary creators, AI is a powerful equalizer. It lowers the threshold for technological implementation to the "floor," while pushing the boundaries of creative expression to the "sky."
The template creator, Xiaotao, is not a professional and initially could only make some simple speed-changing templates.
She keenly seized the opportunity of the launch of the AI function, and after repeated attempts for more than forty times, she finally used AI to generate a 3D cartoon effect template that was popular at the time.
Her life ushered in a turning point - this template was eventually used more than 3.34 million times, and it also transformed her from an ordinary office worker into an "AI native creator" with a stable monthly income of over 10,000 yuan.
In Xiaotao, we see the prototype of a new creative paradigm: the core work of creators has shifted to discovering trends, understanding user emotions, and using AI tools to quickly transform them into easy-to-consume "creative products."
Xiaobao represents the "transformation" of existing creators, while Xiaotao represents the new generation of "AI-native" creators. They learned to create based on AI from the beginning.
Their core competence is no longer mastering complex editing techniques, but rather their insight into public sentiment and the ability to translate this insight into their AI dance partner. This represents a completely new creative paradigm, one that relies more on ingenuity than brute force.
Jianying is also working hard to cultivate this emerging "AI template" ecosystem through cash and traffic support of over 100 million yuan.
AI and the Business Closed Loop: When "Passion" Becomes "Career"
Over the past six months, the volume of content created using AI on Douyin has increased by 91%. In response to this surge, Douyin, in partnership with Jimeng AI, has launched the "AI Creation Wave Plan" for creators. This comprehensive program encourages creators to leverage AI for innovation, offering tools, training, industry resources, and even cash flow.
While helping creators reduce costs and increase efficiency, it is also to seize the new expression space brought by AI and give birth to new content forms.
The core tool for this plan is Jianying, the national-level editing application within the Douyin ecosystem.
Jianying has undergone a comprehensive upgrade of its AI capabilities. In the "filming" phase, its classic "Image and Text to Film" feature, built with large models like Doubao and DeepSeek, can now directly generate storyboards based on user inspiration. Furthermore, leveraging its proprietary "DreamPage" model, AI can generate consistent video footage in one stop, achieving cinematic camera effects with a single shot.
In track editing, AI has also been deeply integrated, launching the highly realistic "AI Dubbing 3.0", the "Lyric Change and Cover" function that supports the adaptation of popular songs, and the "AI Spot Check" function that can intelligently filter shots from massive materials based on the copy, greatly improving creative efficiency.
In addition, by launching ByteDance's internal Seedream 4.0 model, Jianying has become a powerful image creation platform that can change clothing and generate commercial posters with one click, expanding the creative boundaries from videos to images.
Going a step further, Jianying also officially launched a new product "Jian Xiaoying" to explore different forms of AI creation.
This AI-powered film-making product features "no operation required". It uses AI image understanding technology to automatically analyze the user's mobile phone albums and intelligently generate videos with stories and highlights from daily life materials.
I also downloaded Jian Xiaoying and, after enabling photo album permissions, it began to act like an incredibly diligent and self-directed companion, automatically rummaging through my memories, weaving together forgotten photos and videos into stories, complete with music and special effects. Some of the results it produced truly surprised me.
But behind the surprise, there is a vague sense of unease.
At first glance, it feels like opening up all your photo albums and letting an AI tool read, analyze, combine, and edit them at will, which can be a bit unsettling. However, Jianying doesn't actually read the entire album information; it only uploads the features analyzed locally to the AI, essentially classifying, aggregating, and generating videos.
Image source: TikTok
However, it can still be seen that Jianying's exploration has gone beyond the scope of traditional editing tools, attempting to provide users with a new, passive and automated way of recording life.
This is a question that must be answered for Jianying or other AI applications.
The transition from tool to partner may be a technical evolution of models and computing power, but from a product perspective, it represents a monumental test of intimacy. How much trust are users willing to accrue in exchange for convenience? This question currently seems to have no definitive answer.
From powerful AI creation tools to fully automatic memory generation engines, Jianying is providing a solid infrastructure for Douyin's "AI creation wave."
In this creative revolution driven by AI, we can see a clear path: it begins with individual creators shifting their mindset from suspicion to embrace, is driven by the self-evolution of tool platforms from function aggregation to process integration, and ultimately, in a broader ecosystem, plays the role of both an "amplifier" for the elite and an "equalizer" for the masses.
What will the future hold? Perhaps, as creator AJ predicts, AI will become a "co-creation partner that understands you," anticipating your creative needs; a "connector of the ecosystem," allowing you to accomplish everything with a single tool; and ultimately a "catalyst of creativity," enabling personalized creations tailored to each individual.
The essence of creation is returning from the technical anxiety of "how to achieve it" to the creative origin of "what to express".
The core of this revolution may never be "tools replacing people" but "tools liberating people." It frees our hands, allowing us to focus more on thinking and feeling.
In the future, a creator's core competitiveness may no longer be the ability to skillfully operate tools, but rather the ability to connect with a powerful AI and create a wonderful dance together. You only need to think about what you want to express in the dance, and your AI partner will take care of the rest.
