When “Watching Videos” Turns into “Playing Games”: AI-Interactive Content is Reshaping How You Use Your Screen Time
Hello everyone, I’m your financial journalist friend. Today, we’re going to talk about a major trend that’s quietly changing the way you use your mobile devices.
If you’ve been browsing platforms like TikTok, Bilibili, or REDnote recently, have you noticed that some content isn’t just something you watch and then scroll past—it encourages you to engage and “play” with it? Maybe it’s a fun quiz, a chat with an AI character, or a simple interactive game.
This isn’t just an illusion. In the second half of 2026, the major domestic content platforms (TikTok, Kuaishou, Bilibili, REDnote) all bet on a new direction: AI-interactive spaces. At the same time, the government officially implemented the “Artificial Intelligence Generated and Synthetic Content Identification Measures,” which has sort of put a “tightened rein” on AI-generated content.
What’s really behind this? Is it just another fleeting internet sensation, or the “fourth type of content” following images, videos, and live broadcasts? Let’s break it down in plain language and discuss it from five aspects.
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1. Phenomenal Hits: From “Watching” to “Joining in the Fun”
To understand this transformation, let’s look at two recent examples that went viral on their own. They weren’t carefully crafted ads but the result of user-generated enthusiasm.
1. The “SBTI” Personality Test: An AI-Driven Social Craze
In April this year, a Bilibili creator named “Q Ruo Er Chuan Er” created a spoof personality test called “SBTI” to encourage a friend to quit drinking.
- How it works: 31 questions, and the results are available in 5 minutes.
- The results were both insightful and amusing: The labels weren’t just “introverted/extroverted” but included phrases like “workaholic ATM-er” (a self-deprecating term for overworked people) and “fake person.”
- The impact was huge: It started with 100,000 participants and immediately overwhelmed the server. Even celebrities like蔡 Yilin and brands like Luckin Coffee and Starbucks quickly launched their own versions within 24 hours.
- The core idea: It tapped into young people’s desire to play with memes and show off socially. The purpose wasn’t just to see the results but to share them with others or tease friends.
2. “Saving the Fox in the Snow Mountain”: An AI-Generated Short Drama
An AI-generated short drama in the “Shaw Brothers” style, with no celebrities or promotion, reached nearly 5 billion views on TikTok, Bilibili, and REDnote. Celebrities like Lu Yuxiao participated in the interaction, and users left lots of comments.
What do these examples show?
There’s a qualitative shift in content consumption: from one-way viewing to two-way interaction. Before, you were just a viewer; now, you’re an active participant. This kind of engagement drives content sharing much faster than traditional videos.
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2. Platform Competition: How the Big Four Are Securing Their Places in This New Space**
As the benefits of short videos peak, platforms are desperately seeking new growth points. AI-interactive spaces have become their common “lifesaver” and “new battlefield.” But each platform approaches it differently:
1. TikTok: Creating an “Interactive Space Plaza” with a Focus on Immersion and IP Collaboration
- Action: Officially tested the “Interactive Space Plaza” in July 2026.
- Features: It’s more than just chatting; it includes lightweight gamification. You can talk to virtual characters, choose story outcomes, and play simulators (like the Link simulator).
- Highlights: Short videos can directly lead to interactive experiences. For example, in “After Moving into a Book, I Manipulate the Tyrant with Coquetry,” you can hear voices and make choices, creating a highly immersive experience.
- Business logic: By integrating IPs like the Forbidden City, Disney, and “Dream of the West,” TikTok turns brands from being mere observers into participants in the content.
2. Bilibili: The First to Act, Focusing on “Low-Barrier Creation”
- Action: Launched the “Toy” interactive platform on the web in June 2026.
- Features: Using “Vibe Coding” technology, creators can describe their ideas in plain language, and AI generates the content (like a MBTI quiz game) that appears below the video.
- Results: Within months, the platform had 29.56 million interactions, with hits like “SBTI” and “Big Dog Barks Tap” (a highly clickable game with 8.33 million trials).
- Logic: It activates the creator ecosystem, creating a loop of “watching videos—playing interactions—staying on the platform.”
3. Kuaishou: Recruiting Creators, Focusing on Three Main Categories
- Action: Announced the launch of AI-interactive content creation tools and recruited the first group of creators.
- Focus: Interactive stories, AI-character conversations, and lightweight interactive apps.
- Logic: Kuaishou’s users are more down-to-earth, so these interactions likely appeal to them more.
4. REDnote: Aligning with the Community, Focusing on “Practical Recommendations”
- Action: Launched a “Small Tools” section in July 2026.
- Features: Interactive content appears directly below notes without leaving the app.
- Difference: Unlike TikTok’s entertainment focus, REDnote emphasizes practicality, such as skin type tests, outfit recommendations, and makeup trials.
- Logic: This fits well with REDnote’s focus on decision-making moments. After reading an outfit note, users can directly try out the AI-generated results, increasing conversion rates.
In summary: TikTok focuses on ecosystem and IP collaboration, Bilibili on creation tools, Kuaishou on content categories, and REDnote on practical applications. All are competing for a share of the AI-interactive content market, but each has its unique approach.
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3. Why Now? The Confluence of Three Drivers
The sudden surge in AI-interactive content in 2026 is not accidental but the result of a combination of three factors:
1. Technological Drive: The barrier to creation has plummeted.**
- In the past: Creating a game or interactive story required collaboration from at least three to five people across front-end, back-end, planning, and art teams over weeks.
- Now: With AI programming tools like Vibe Coding, ordinary creators can describe their ideas in plain language, and AI generates publishable HTML pages or apps.
- Significance: This means “creativity is for everyone,” no longer just the domain of professional teams.
2. Market Drive: The benefits of short videos are reaching their peak, and platforms need new ways to attract users.**
- Data shows: According to Questmobile, short videos accounted for 30.9% of total user time in February 2026, a mere 1.3% increase from the previous year. Growth has slowed down.
- Challenge: User time is still increasing (192.2 hours per month), but the share of short videos is stagnating, and content is becoming increasingly homogeneous.
- Solution: AI-interactive spaces can turn passive browsing into active engagement, extending user stay time.
3. Capital Drive: Overseas experiences have proven the commercial value.**
- Examples:
- Loopit (an interactive version of TikTok): A 15-second AI-generated video shared by Elon Musk gained tens of millions of views and raised nearly $100 million in half a year.
- Aippy: An AI-game platform that raised tens of millions in June, valued at $250 million, focusing on zero-barrier game creation.
- Signal: Over 20 AI-interactive content startups raised more than $500 million in the first half of 2026, giving domestic platforms confidence to invest.
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4. The Core Logic: A Shift from “Content” to “Service”
The essence of this transformation is not just the addition of a new feature but a levitation of content formats:
1. Breaking the “Producer-Consumer” Barrier:
- Traditional model: Creators produce, and consumers watch. Consumers are passive recipients.
- AI-interactive model: Consumers participate in the creation process (choosing story outcomes, giving commands, generating results). They become co-creators.
- Example: In the SBTI test, your answers define your label, making you a co-author of the content.
2. The Emergence of Social Currency:
- Traditional videos: Sharing videos is about recommending something good.
- AI-interactions: Sharing interactive results is about showcasing your personality, views, or mood.
- Self-dissemination efficiency: The widespread sharing of SBTI tests shows that users not only enjoy the content but also want to share their results and compare labels, creating a self-propagating effect that traditional videos can’t match.
3. Expansion of Business Models:
- From Advertising to Experiences: Brands can go beyond logos; they can let users “experience” their products. For example, Luckin Coffee’s SBTI version allows users to interact with the brand, making a deeper impression.
- From Traffic to Retention: Interactive content is more sticky, retaining users better than just watching videos.
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5. A Critical Reflection: A Long-Term Trend or a Passing Fancy?
Despite the promising prospects, we can’t be overly optimistic. AI-interactive content faces several challenges:
1. The Timeliness of Memes: Current hits rely on internet trends and short-lived emotions. Once the trend fades, so does the interest.
- Risk: It’s difficult to create long-lasting, stable content IPs.
2. Homogenization: Lowered creation barriers have led to a flood of similar personality tests, simple games, and repetitive interactive stories.
- Risk: Users may become tired of this, and there might be a lack of high-quality content.
3. It May Be a New Category, Not a New Community: Some observers believe AI-interactive content won’t create new, widespread communities.
- Explanation: It’s more likely to emerge within existing apps (like TikTok and Bilibili) as a new category, not a new entry point for traffic (like WeChat or TikTok did initially).
- Value: Even if it’s not a standalone platform, it’s already enhancing user engagement, social connections, and the creator ecosystem.
4. Regulatory Challenges: The new regulations require clear labeling of AI-generated content.**
- Impact: All AI-generated content must be marked as AI-made, which is both a regulatory requirement and a standard for the industry, helping build user trust and preventing trust issues.
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Conclusion: An Opportunity for a Competitive Leap
As the benefits of short videos peak and live streaming enters a phase of stability, any new format that can attract users will be a chance for platforms to gain a competitive advantage.
AI-interactive spaces may not replace short videos, but they’re enriching them. They make content more immersive, interactive, and engaging. For users, this means more diverse and personalized entertainment; for creators, it means they can create hits without coding skills; for platforms, it’s a new race for user engagement and social stickiness.
The future is already here, though not evenly distributed. And AI interaction is that rapidly spreading new variable.