A scene from The Ape Squad's Roborock ad campaign created by artificial intelligence (AI) / Courtesy of The Ape Squad
As generative artificial intelligence (AI) video tools advance rapidly, Kim Yong-ki, CEO and director of Seoul-based AI studio The Ape Squad, is betting on a counterintuitive hypothesis. The more powerful AI becomes, the more essential human directors will become.
For the CEO, who also has extensive experience in traditional advertising production, AI is not a shortcut to replacing creative labor and getting cheaper content. Rather, he sees it as a tool that allows directors to realize their creative intentions with greater fidelity than traditional live-action filming.
Kim Yong Ki, The Ape Squad CEO / Provided by: The Ape Squad
“Actually, I spend more of my time directing AI videos than directing live-action films,” Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times at his studio's office in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. “Working in AI requires me to be personally involved in every step and process many parts one by one. So I thought a lot about where to find the right balance, how much to cut and what to get in return.”
Ape Squad started as an AI research and development team for Kim's live-action advertising studio Space Monster Content. In 2024, it will become an independent company and operate a fully in-house AI studio, handling planning, image generation, video production, and post-production under one roof.
While leveraging AI in ad production can result in significant cost savings, reducing expenses to just one-twentieth of an equivalent live-action budget, Kim is adamant that savings should not be the end goal, keeping the balance at around one-third to one-fifth of live-action costs.
“The key is how effectively we can reallocate these savings to increase the quality of the work, the creativity, and the overall appeal of the content. We can reinvest, whether fully or partially, in more creative aspects,” he said, noting that this approach sets the studio apart from other AI studios.
The studio explained that it organizes AI projects as roundtables where AI artists, technologists, and directors work as one team, from content concept development to final product.
This studio gained attention in the 1990s when it used AI to reconstruct Kim Sung-jae, a member of K-pop duo Deux who passed away shortly after his debut. The studio used the singer's images to create an AI-produced music video for the duo's new release “RISE,” which marks their comeback after 28 years.
Unlike modern celebrities with vast image datasets, Kim Sung-jae presented a unique challenge.
The representative explained, “For famous celebrities, it is relatively easy to convert text to video because they have many photos.However, Kim Sung Jae passed away shortly after his debut, so there are no images left after that.'' “Everyone has a different memory of what he looked like…We had a really hard time finding the most respectful and emotional point in between.”
Image of singer Lee Hyun Do and top singer, late Lee Sung Jae recreated by AI / Provided by The Ape Squad
Rather than pushing realism to its limits, the studio made a deliberate directorial choice to only reveal reconstructed faces in key moments at the beginning and end of the video, and fill in the gaps with half-masked faces.
“At this stage, it is inevitable that AI will leave visible traces, so we decided to embrace it by building a story that highlights it in the most meaningful way,” he said. “Rather than constantly exposing an imperfect face, we focused on moments that evoked nostalgia.”
CEO made history by becoming the first Korean director to win the grand prize for both live-action and AI advertising campaigns at the Korea Advertising Awards. Based on his expertise in both fields, Kim believes there will be increased potential for hybrid works that combine live-action footage and AI-generated environments.
The studio is set to release the AI-produced anthology film Code: G on December 24th, and has directed one of five short films that combine live-action and AI-generated production.
“We've been thinking a lot about how this industry can remain sustainable and what direction it should pursue as AI technology advances. That's why we plan to explore a more hybrid approach next year, and we think this area could be a big differentiator for us,” he said.
For Kim, the debate around AI in the creative field is reminiscent of past changes, such as the transition from film to digital, where initial resistance eventually gave way to new norms as artists learned to adapt while preserving their vision.
“I think we need to focus on applying it effectively in our own way, rather than blindly opposing it,” he said.
