This looks rough now but I wonder what A.I. soaps will look, sound like in a few years.

Should the soap industry worry about this?

I think this is an interesting gray area. I think there are several approaches that I can see happening with A.I. in the arena of soap opera.

I believe one of the European soaps out of the Netherlands or Germany has already started, or discussed the possibility, of using A.I. actors for the extras. In the states, I think the shows have started using them for some of the establishing shots. It's rough, but I do think that they could get smoother and, honestly, probably develop a more accurate feel of the community if theycontinued to use the technology to enhance the environs.

I could definitely see if micro soaps continue to pick up more steam with a production company using it to pump out content at a quick rate to appeal to viewer demand. I watched some of one show earlier this fall and it wasn't terribly good, but with a bit of tweaking, it was definitely could have been something of value. For this, I could see the A.I. being used also to write the shows and not just create the visuals.

The area that I'm most interested in this would be the fan developed content. When I found my way into the Internet soap community in the summer 1998, there was already a burgeoning fandom for fan generated original content, not so much fan fiction but brand new soap opera by fans of the genre. The amount of time and energy those fans put into those shows from plotting, writing, designing websites, and interacting with their fans was amazing. I think using this tech to revitalize that community by creating unique content that it created with original, or A.I. influenced rather than A.I. generated, story is possible.

The last area, which I think has been discussed in other places, is how it could be used to take old content and recreate the audio and visual.

I do think there would be something lost if we end up with only A.I. generated content. Actors make such interesting choices and writers explore such facets that I'm not sure A.I. would ever or could ever do, but maybe I'm wrong. I do think from a writer's perspective, having control on how an actor plays a scene could become appealing.

Not sure if this was really the response you were looking for, but I figured I'd engage.

7 hours ago, dc11786 said:

I think this is an interesting gray area. I think there are several approaches that I can see happening with A.I. in the arena of soap opera.

I believe one of the European soaps out of the Netherlands or Germany has already started, or discussed the possibility, of using A.I. actors for the extras. In the states, I think the shows have started using them for some of the establishing shots. It's rough, but I do think that they could get smoother and, honestly, probably develop a more accurate feel of the community if theycontinued to use the technology to enhance the environs.

I could definitely see if micro soaps continue to pick up more steam with a production company using it to pump out content at a quick rate to appeal to viewer demand. I watched some of one show earlier this fall and it wasn't terribly good, but with a bit of tweaking, it was definitely could have been something of value. For this, I could see the A.I. being used also to write the shows and not just create the visuals.

The area that I'm most interested in this would be the fan developed content. When I found my way into the Internet soap community in the summer 1998, there was already a burgeoning fandom for fan generated original content, not so much fan fiction but brand new soap opera by fans of the genre. The amount of time and energy those fans put into those shows from plotting, writing, designing websites, and interacting with their fans was amazing. I think using this tech to revitalize that community by creating unique content that it created with original, or A.I. influenced rather than A.I. generated, story is possible.

The last area, which I think has been discussed in other places, is how it could be used to take old content and recreate the audio and visual.

I do think there would be something lost if we end up with only A.I. generated content. Actors make such interesting choices and writers explore such facets that I'm not sure A.I. would ever or could ever do, but maybe I'm wrong. I do think from a writer's perspective, having control on how an actor plays a scene could become appealing.

Not sure if this was really the response you were looking for, but I figured I'd engage.

The German soap opera “unter uns” used AI for flashback scenes (newly created) with the original cast member Christiane Maybach (Margot Weigel) that died in 2006 to introduce some new family members. It was weird

On 1/9/2026 at 8:53 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

This looks rough now but I wonder what A.I. soaps will look, sound like in a few years.

Should the soap industry worry about this

On 1/9/2026 at 8:53 PM, DramatistDreamer said:

This looks rough now but I wonder what A.I. soaps will look, sound like in a few years.

Should the soap industry worry about this?

Some aussies have created a new “radio” “audio” soap and are on episode 58 by now. I think audio soaps are a better way to go with this than AI soaps

I was literally going to post about this very same topic on here the other day by presenting the exact same question.. what would everyone think of AI soaps?

On one hand, it would resolve the lack of sets and large casts, which soaps had in the glory days with a larger budget. It would be so fun to see a vibrant rich fictional world with different families and classes exist in an AI universe where the writer or “creator” of this can be in the drivers seat showing us their vision for this kind of soap opera. It would be such a fun creative outlet for someone like me, who as @dc11786 mentioned, were one of those people creating fan fiction and actually wrote different storylines and posted episodes daily. I could control who comes and goes, what actors I wanted playing these roles in my make believe world. It would be really cool to see how this would work in 2026 with AI.

On the other hand, one of the main things I love about soaps is also the real humans who play these roles. Each actor has a unique approach to acting and when we watch these shows the reason we feel so connected to it is because we see ourselves in these, very much real HUMANS. If we took that away what would it look like.. would it just be soulless and empty? It’s definitely fun to think about though.

When I imagine what it would look like/mean to have an AI soap I can’t help but picture the Sims 😂 except obviously more advanced than that.

The look and feel of those clips aside, I believe A.I. is antithetical to the soap opera genre, and to creative work as a whole. Soaps often aim to reflect our experiences and delve into the societal issues we face each decade. They were revolutionary in many ways for this. To completely remove the human element in favor of a robot's approximation of emotion is so very wrong. Not to mention unethical to writers, actors, and artists whose hard work and likenesses have been used to train A.I. models with zero consent or compensation. (And there is also the vast environmental impact). I know budget is a factor here, but soap operas have managed with those same concerns since they were invented. I don't believe A.I. is the solution. They would cheapen soaps not for the better, but for the worse.

As mentioned, an actor's unique contribution to their role is irreplaceable. A robot can simply never do it. I return to my favorite soaps because the actors do such a fabulous job, whether intentionally with their deliberate choices, or unintentionally with their natural, subconscious inflections that bleed through to their character and make them all the more interesting. That's the beauty of the human element. (Just one of many examples, of course!).

If productions incorporate A.I. into their shows, I hope it's as short-lived as possible, as A.I. perhaps loses interest while we all continue to learn more about it, or when it becomes more regulated.

I'm a newer soap opera fan (approx. five or six years), and I draw fan art every week of my favorite characters and jot down ideas for alternate plotlines. I take inspiration from my favorite storylines and have gone on to create my own characters and worlds. We're all using this site, so I'd like to believe there are still decent-sized fanbases, all with creative minds buzzing. My point being: We should focus more on uplifting eachothers' abilities rather than encourage a robot to do the creative work for us. I don't often see fanworks, but would love to find wherever they get shared. :)

I hope this post doesn't sound aggressive. I know tone can get a bit lost in text. I'm just passionate about this topic! <3

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by skylark