China’s web novel platforms once celebrated AI as a tool to help writers. Now, they’re trying to rein it in. Gordon Sheng, a 32-year-old civil engineer, used an AI tool to draft a story in five minutes. It appeared on Tomato Novel, a free-to-read site, and drew 5,500 reads in 10 days. “It does a better job than I would,” he said, highlighting how AI bridges the gap between idea and execution for many aspiring authors.
The rise of AI in web novels
Web novels, serialized stories read on smartphones, have long been a fixture of China’s internet culture. Originating in the 1990s, they feature fast-paced plots—romance, revenge, wuxia battles, or time-travel adventures. Tech giants like ByteDance, Tencent, and Baidu own the most influential platforms, generating billions from ads and subscriptions. In 2023, Tencent’s China Literature introduced an AI tool that turned rough outlines into full stories, comparing it to “assisted driving.”
ByteDance’s Tomato Novel launched an “author’s assistant” in 2024, helping writers with research and plot gaps. Beijing-based developer Junxian Ma created InkOS, an AI system with agents that draft outlines, write chapters, and spot errors. Over 50,000 users downloaded it, with some earning income from AI-generated stories. “Humans have more time to think about what stories to tell,” Ma said.
Related: India explores AI beyond Silicon Valley
The backlash and crackdown
Readers are growing wary. On Xiaohongshu, users shared screenshots of AI prompts accidentally left in novels. Others flagged strange phrases or repetitive metaphors as red flags. Yang Zhou, a software developer, said AI-generated stories feel “wasted” compared to the slow, deliberate updates he prefers. “I take time to appreciate something written slowly,” he said.
Authors also fear AI enables plagiarism. In 2024, writers protested Tomato Novel after the platform required them to hand over rights for AI training. Platforms are now limiting daily word counts and rejecting submissions they label “low-quality.”
Sheng argues AI helps untrained writers express ideas they otherwise couldn’t. He fixed bugs in AI-generated stories, like a father texting a daughter while standing next to her. “Many people have the spark for a story, but don’t know how to express it,” he said. “AI has closed that gap for us.”