A web series that climbed to the 16th spot on a major platform's new-release chart was not produced by a professional urban studio, but by a group of "zero-basics" young people from Cangxi County, Sichuan Province. In August 2026, the AI-generated short drama, Back to Gaokao, went viral, and by August 31st it emerged that this was a complete indie production created from scratch over a 40-day period by these local youths. Three months earlier, they had been fresh college graduates, or workers in the decoration and semiconductor packaging industries, with no prior connection to filmmaking or AI content. Armed with just a computer and several AI software tools, they managed to "hand-craft" a hit AI web series through sheer determination and effort.

Before this transformation, Yang Ruiqi, a young man from Cangxi, understood AI only as a tool to open a chat window, type a prompt like "generate a female character," and wait for the image. This is the reality for many young people in county towns: though they live in the digital age, they feel disconnected from its opportunities. The turning point came in May 2026. With coordination from Alibaba's rural envoy Luo Yingping, who had been stationed in Cangxi for years, Yang and three others were sent to Hangzhou on May 10th for a 40-day intensive training program in AI short-drama production at Zhenyouqu Media. Upon arrival, the group realized the gap was immense – seasoned professionals could write prompts so detailed that they specified facial features down to the number of hairs. Faced with this overwhelming sense of inadequacy, they held a "self-rescue meeting" in their dormitory, resolved to ask as many questions as possible and tackle the technology head-on. "We asked until we felt embarrassed," Yang recalled with a smile.

The team then embarked on an intense learning sprint: by week two they had mastered character modeling, by week three they understood camera positioning and movement, and by week four they conquered editing. Each day was spent producing their own content, followed by nights of breaking down successful films to absorb professional shooting techniques and build their own directorial thinking from the ground up. After 40 days of this rigorous baptism, Yang had completely transformed. An English major with no prior film background, he could now independently run the entire process from character design to the final cut. In August, Yang and his team released their first original AI web series, Back to Gaokao, which stormed to the 16th position in the platform's new-drama charts within days, an outstanding result for what was originally just a practice exercise. Luo Jie, the head of the Cangxi-based production company, believes this performance proves that county-level talent is capable, but it needs the right window of opportunity.

This breakout success isn't accidental luck. It represents a new exploration by Alibaba's public welfare division to cultivate digital talent at the county level: importing the trendy AI short-drama industry into smaller regions. Through an "AI Short-Drama Production Training Base," young locals are given the chance to learn cutting-edge digital skills and seize the AI dividend without leaving home. The idea originated from Luo Yingping's observations of the local economy in Cangxi. Years ago, Alibaba's philanthropy helped establish a digital employment base there, but after four years of growth, the live-streaming e-commerce business is nearly saturated, leaving narrow paths for young job seekers. With the explosion of AIGC technology, the question arose: why not bring this new AI short-drama track to the county? This vision resonated with Luo Jie, the base's manager. After due diligence, Luo Yingping connected with Zhenyouqu Media and designated it a "Public Welfare AI Short-Drama Training Base." Luo Jie recruited local trainees, while Alibaba's charity covered all travel, accommodation, and meal costs for the 40-day program. Upon returning home, the trained graduates in turn teach new cohorts, building a self-sustaining talent pipeline.

So far, the Cangxi AI team has grown to 20 members, capable of producing four short dramas per month while continuously training more people. Luo Jie notes that the company has signed an annual contract for 50 AI short dramas this year, and team members currently earn an average monthly salary of 5,000 to 6,000 RMB, which is above average for local businesses. "While this salary doesn't match first-tier cities, we avoid the high costs of urban rent and living. Being able to work locally is a great opportunity," Yang Ruiqi commented. "The essence of this change is the democratization of technology brought by AI," Luo Yingping explained. Traditional filmmaking had very high entry barriers, but AI has dismantled those technical walls, allowing county-level youth to get involved effortlessly. In this new landscape, formal education matters less; aesthetic sense, web-savvy, and the ability to tell stories are the true core competencies. Luo Yingping believes AI web series are following the same trajectory as the live-streaming boom of a few years back, which started in big cities with big anchors but eventually saw amateur broadcasters emerge everywhere as digital jobs migrated to smaller regions. Over the past two years, Luo has introduced customer service centers, broadcast bases, and group broadcast companies into Cangxi, with AI short-drama production being the latest addition to this chain.

"Counties have three key advantages for AI web series," Luo pointed out. "First, lower labor costs than in big cities. Second, faster and more scalable replication, which can create a cluster effect. Third, vast potential for local integration – beyond taking commercial orders for profit, we can deeply combine this with regional tourism promotion, legal advocacy, and rural storytelling. It has both economic and social value." Looking ahead, Luo hopes that AI web series can serve as a fresh breakthrough for rural revitalization, achieving talent retention, income growth, and industrial development. "We aim to keep local youth here by providing cutting-edge digital jobs right on their doorstep, ensuring high-quality nearby employment. Next, we want to incubate more local enterprises as production capacity and orders stabilize, nurturing homegrown media and creative businesses to boost the county's digital economy. In the long run, our goal is to establish a complete industrial ecosystem that sustains the vitality of rural revitalization."

The Cangxi model is now spreading beyond its home base. Projects in Zhejiang's Kaihua and Pan'an counties have also started AI short-drama initiatives. Under the guidance of Alibaba's public welfare trainers, over 70 young people at a digital talent base in Kaihua have used Alibaba's AI video generation model, Happy Horse, to produce more than a thousand AI e-commerce promotional videos. On August 17th, some trainees participated in creating the rural revitalization AI film A Ginseng Encounter in Pingshun, which debuted on the Taobao short-drama platform. Since 2019, Alibaba has run its "Rural Envoy" program, stationing senior employees in counties to assess local needs and connect internal and external resources. To date, 35 envoys have been dispatched to 30 counties nationwide, each spending more than 300 days per year working locally. Nurturing county-level talent has always been a central focus of their work. From the initial "customer service counties" to data annotation specialists, and now from live-streaming bases to AI short-drama training, the goal remains unchanged: to offer local youth access to cutting-edge industries without having to relocate, and to ensure their skills align with the demands of the era. Wang Wei, vice president of Alibaba's Public Welfare Division, stressed, "We must ignite the internal drive of rural communities by focusing on retaining, nurturing, and attracting talent. Only then can we encourage young people to return to and thrive in their hometowns." Indeed, as AI dramatically lowers the technological barrier, the true ceiling lies in human imagination – and what Alibaba's philanthropy is doing, above all else, is helping county-level youth open the door to that boundless imagination.