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Carefully scrutinized and selected from over 1,300 visionary submissions around the world, the finalists of the 2nd HKUST AI Film Festival (2nd HKUST AIFF) are officially here.
These works represent the forefront of storytelling where AI meets cinema, music, and above all creativity.

Congratulations to all finalists, and thank you to every creator who submitted their work and dared to imagine beyond limits. Read more

On April 29, 2026, Prof. Hongbo Fu, Acting Head of the Division of Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was invited to speak at the event "Stepping into the Digital Intelligence Era: Forum on Art and Technology Talent Development" in Beijing about how HKUST’s AMC is building a new model for art-tech education at the intersection of AI, creativity, and interdisciplinary learning. Read more

The Division of Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC) at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is delighted to announce its active participation at the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI) 2026, the world’s premier forum for human–computer interaction (HCI) research, held recently in Barcelona, Spain from 13–17 Apr, 2026. Read more

A recent in‑depth report published by HK01 examines the rapidly intensifying impact of generative AI on the film and television industry, asking whether AI will ultimately “kill” screen production or free creators to pursue deeper artistic value. Triggered by the debut of AI actors at the Hong Kong International Film & TV Market, the article captures widespread industry anxiety over job displacement, creative authenticity, and copyright, while also highlighting emerging opportunities driven by AI‑powered production tools.

Drawing on insights from AMC Assistant Professor Anyi RAO—founder of the Greater China region’s first fully AI‑produced film festival, the HKUST AI Film Festival—the report outlines key technical breakthroughs in video generation, particularly improvements in controllability and temporal‑spatial consistency. Advances in models such as Seedance and Google Gemini, alongside tools like ControlNet and AnimateDiff, are enabling more coherent storytelling, realistic motion, and finer creative direction, dramatically lowering production costs and timelines.

Read the full article on HK01:
與AI共存．一｜AI 將會殺死影視還是解放創作？

There are teams who were suddenly down to half their members due to exams; teams who worked around the clock to perfect their work; and teams who brought work-life balance to a hackathon - and that's just a tiny glimpse of what happened in the HKUST AI Film Hackathon Final, held at HKUST Tsang Shiu Tim Art Hall across an intense 36-hour sprint over March 28-29, 2026. Read more

A recent article published by TechWalker spotlighted a major research breakthrough led by a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) team including AMC Assistant Professor Anyi RAO in the field of AI video generation. The research introduces Astrolabe, an innovative training framework designed to solve a long-standing challenge in generative AI: how to achieve real-time video generation without sacrificing visual quality or human aesthetic expectations.

The work, conducted jointly by researchers from HKUST, JD Explore Academy, and The University of Hong Kong, proposes a novel combination of forward-process reinforcement learning, streaming training mechanisms, and a multi-dimensional reward system. Together, these techniques allow fast video models to significantly improve visual fidelity, motion consistency, and text–video alignment while maintaining high generation speed.

Astrolabe was validated across several mainstream rapid video-generation models, including Self‑Forcing, Causal‑Forcing, and LongLive, demonstrating consistent quality improvements for both short and long video outputs. The study, published in March 2026 as arXiv:2603.17051v1, points to new possibilities for practical, high-quality real-time AI video applications in content creation, education, and interactive media.

Read the full article on TechWalker:
香港科技大学团队突破实时视频生成关键瓶颈：让AI视频模型既快又符合人类审美

The Division of Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC) is delighted to announce that a collaborative research initiative led by AMC Acting Head and Professor Hongbo FU in conjunction with top-calibre Chinese Mainland institutions has received HKD 3.6 million in funding from the 2025/26 National Natural Science Foundation of China/RGC Collaborative Research Scheme (NSFC/RGC CRS). Read more

The HKUST AI Film Hackathon reached a pivotal moment on March 15 with Workshop 3 Creative Narrative, shifting the focus to the core of filmmaking—storytelling: how AI can be used to craft clear, intentional, and impactful stories. The workshop—generously sponsored by TapNow— was led by Yang Xuan (FOS), award‑winning AI film director and screenwriter with over 10 years of industry experience, alongside Kiko Hwang, a Certified AIMV Director, commercial photographer, and AIGC artist specializing in fashion and sci‑fi visual aesthetics. Read more

The Division of Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC) is delighted to announce that our faculty member, Dr. Daniel CHUN, has been awarded the Gold Medal with Jury Congratulations at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, one of the world’s most prestigious platforms for showcasing groundbreaking innovations. This distinguished recognition places Dr. Chun’s work among the highest honors conferred at the Exhibition and reflects the exceptional originality, technical excellence, and real-world impact of his innovation. Read more

The HKUST AI Film Hackathon returned on March 8 with Workshop 2: Advanced Workflow, held in the afternoon at the HKUST campus. This session—proudly powered by Minimax—was led by Ka Tam and Jeni To, both serving as Hailuo Hong Kong Ambassadors and pioneering multidisciplinary creators at the intersection of art, technology, and emerging AI-driven storytelling. Read more