Over the past several years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become an increasingly integral part of everyday life for many people. When it was unveiled to the general public in 2022, many people quickly wrote off AI as little more than an oddity. However, the public rapidly re-evaluated the technology and its potential applications, thanks to several high-profile businesses and industries embracing the tool.
These entities turned to AI when they realized how much the technology could accomplish in a condensed period and how much costly labor it could save. All of this was in keeping with the technology’s actual strengths, which were its unique ability to consume vast quantities of data and then regurgitate or re-contextualize that information in accordance with user-entered prompts.
As a result, time-consuming paperwork and data-driven jobs were redefined entirely, as these manual labor positions were largely replaced by automation. AI’s success on these fronts inspired others to give the technology a chance. It resulted in the digital landscape of 2025, where everything, from search engines to social media platforms, has actively incorporated AI into their systems and interfaces.
This has led to AI becoming vastly more popular with the general population, mainly because they are largely unaware of it. As technology has grown more refined and advanced over the last few years, it has become so proficient at generating words, images, and full-on videos that most average consumers can no longer distinguish between authentic content and AI-generated content upon first glance.
These technological advancements have excited many people and opened up numerous creative avenues in artistic fields that were previously unthinkable, even a year ago. However, to think that AI can fully replace human workers in these fields or automate the process of creativity is folly, and something that Zhe Song is working tirelessly to get people to recognize. He believes AI lacks emotional logic and storytelling coherence, making skilled human intervention essential. In Zhe’s view, creative works only become truly meaningful when guided by human minds. AI can learn patterns and replicate styles, but it is human ideas and emotions that give art and film their depth. Like any other technological advancement, Zhe sees AI as a tool—valuable only in the hands of the person utilizing it.
For many artists, AI is a hard line in the sand that they refuse to cross. Many view it as antithetical to their work and the reason they chose their medium in the first place. Zhe, however, is a different story. He is an artist with plenty of experience in film outside the realm of AI, but has found himself working alongside AI to help the technology reach new heights.
Zhe is not so much a fixer as an interpreter of machine dreams. He brings emotional intelligence, aesthetic consistency, and narrative sense to a raw and erratic AI canvas. In this way, he takes the regurgitated information that AI issues regarding a response and works to make that response concise and satisfying within traditional cinematic parameters.
Zhe says, “AI can be a valuable tool in enhancing the filmmaking process, but it’s human expression and creativity that transform a film into a true work of art.”
Case in Point
An accomplished editor and colorist, Zhe has spent the last decade shaping the emotional structure of films and commercial stories through post-production. However, in 2024, he faced one of his biggest challenges: a fully AI-generated short film sponsored by Google Labs, set to premiere at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival.
Unlike traditional productions, where visuals are crafted through careful control of cameras, lighting, and human decisions, this project was created entirely by artificial intelligence, frame by frame. The result? An unpredictable aesthetic that often lacked consistency, coherence, and emotional flow. Google Labs initiated the project as an experimental collaboration with visual artists, seeking to find someone to bridge the gap between machine-generated outputs and human storytelling. Their solution? Bring in Zhe Song.
Google’s AI film’s initial visuals showed promise but lacked cohesion. Scenes varied significantly in tone, and characters changed color between shots. The visual flow, essential for storytelling, was inconsistent. Zhe then intervened, not merely as a technician but as a storyteller and problem-solver.
Highlighting Craftsmanship in the Age of Automation
From the outset, one of the things that helped make AI so enormously popular in big business was the automation element. Businesses could now outsource these tasks entirely to AI, allowing it to conserve costly time and labor by completing them in moments. In art, though, nothing is that simple. Rather than shying away from the challenge, Zhe has embraced the thorough and painstaking process of reinterpreting AI art.
He is meticulous in his frame-by-frame work, which starkly contrasts with the widespread belief in effortless AI creativity. He uses immense manual labor to make an AI film “watchable,” as he says. This further demonstrates how automation doesn’t eliminate artistry; it redefines it.
Industry-Spanning Achievements
Zhe’s impact goes beyond this Google project. His diverse portfolio features feature films, vertical streaming series, and award-winning shorts on platforms like Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Redbox, and Tubi. Zhe’s post-production skills have contributed to films starring Anthony Hopkins, Maggie Q, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg, furthering their artistic and commercial achievements.
His editing and color grading work have been showcased at over 100 international festivals. Zhe earned Best Editing awards from the Los Angeles Global Film Festival and the New York Film Awards.
Additionally, Zhe has been a screener for prestigious events such as the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the Burbank International Film Festival, roles typically reserved for highly respected professionals with a keen artistic eye. These accomplishments highlight a body of work that exemplifies excellence in the US film industry and shapes the visual language for a new generation of creators.
Zhe’s project serves as a case study for the future of filmmaking, where collaboration between AI tools and human artists is not optional but essential. As technology continues to advance, creative roles will continue to evolve, and the best artists will be those who are fluent in both artistic instinct and technical language.