This photo taken on Nov. 21, 2024 shows some hard copies of online Chinese novels during their inclusion event at the British Library in London, Britain. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

HANGZHOU, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Your next favorite novel? No need perhaps for confinement in a lonely garret or a decade of drafts. Inspiration may come swiftly in the company of your artificial intelligence (AI) co-writer and its instant ideas. You may even find your novel turned into a webcomic series thanks to your AI collaborator.

AI certainly can play a key role in the swapping of ideas by online literature writers, experts and representatives of related platforms and industries from both home and abroad. Such literary folk gathered at the 2025 China International Online Literature Week held from Sept. 26 to 29 in Hangzhou, capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, where they explored this new literary momentum, landscape and dimension within the context of a global vision of AI-empowered Chinese online literature.

Participants discussed AI's role in Chinese online literature, from AI translation and AI writing to AI-made related products. Notably, Chinese online literature currently attracts around 200 million active overseas readers from over 200 countries and regions.

According to the report released by the China Writers Association (CWA) during the event in Hangzhou, AI-powered translation has turbocharged the reach and speed of dissemination of Chinese online literature. Also, by analyzing overseas readers' preferences and delivering personalized picks, AI is providing an expanded selection for such readers.

Instead of worrying about whether AI can replace writers or not, many writers and experts said that technology is just a tool -- used with the aim of increasing efficiency. AI can churn out words, but it can't replace authors' experience and real emotional insights, participants added.

"AI is not the enemy but a helpful friend, like a secretary. AI 'hands' me piles of material, but I still pick, prune and phrase every line. It is I who made the final decision," said Ahmed Elsaid, a member of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Writers Union who is also a specially-appointed professor at the Communication University of China.

"I let AI edit my drafts and point out logic holes in plots. When I hit a plain-fact problem, AI's big 'brain' and tight logic give me quick answers," said the Chinese writer known as Liu Cuihu, who also learned that communication with such technology does count. Liu revealed that she even talks to AI chatbots -- because clear, detailed instructions help her get better results.

Liu, a female writer from east China's Fujian Province, also noted that AI broadens her horizons. The dialogues she wrote used to sound like the place she came from and the life she has lived. When she wrote about a restaurant owner from northwest China, she used AI to polish her lines by allowing the AI to infuse local accents and contexts.

"AI makes literature writing easier, faster and enables a wider reach. But literature is about humans' real feelings that cannot be programmed," said Turkish journalist and columnist Kamil Erdogdu, who also expressed the view that writers should focus heavily on content and educating themselves, given that writing is based on experience and knowledge.

"The 'new trio,' namely Chinese online literature, games and web series, sees wider global reach and grows with synergy," said Zhang Hongsen, president of the CWA, who added that online literature serves as the foundation -- offering content with unique narratives and rich genres to the other two members of this "trio."

Some participants also said that they used AI to produce music and photos of characters or major scenes at the beginning of their writing endeavors. Some consider this as useful for writers, who are given visual glimpses of their characters and settings. Such visuals can also serve as a source of inspiration for partners working on related products, such as videos and games.

People attend the inclusion event of ten online Chinese novels at the British Library in London, Britain, on Nov. 21, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Ying)

Many companies are embracing AI to empower literature writing efforts and the creation of web series. For instance, Yuewen Group offers AI audiobooks that can turn texts into quality audio products and AI webcomics that can increase design efficiency. The current beta "AI artist" enables writers to obtain visualized scenes while writing.

"When I create a character, I like to let AI create an image as it helps me to describe more details," British author Kawin Jack Sherwin told Xinhua, explaining that AI gives writers the opportunity to visualize their work, with this feature being especially useful given the traditionally high costs of transforming literature into TV shows and comics.

Beijing Kinging Technology Co., Ltd, said the company has made several popular AI plus webcomics series by combining AI and professional teams of people. "Great content never runs out of new ways to show up," said Wang Jing, president of the company.

On most relevant platforms, more than half of the translated works were done via AI -- which reduced costs by over 90 percent.

In the first half of 2025, the online reading platform WebNovel, under Yuewen, rolled out over 3,400 AI-translated books. On this platform, AI-translated works had totaled more than 7,200 -- accounting for over 70 percent of the total translated works from Chinese.

However, participants noted that professionals are still needed to guide AI translation and AI-made related products, as the report shows that AI struggles to localize and convey the cultural meaning of jargon, and even forgets how names and plot points were handled a few chapters earlier due to limited memory capacity.

An online reading platform called Chireads, mainly French-language, hosts around 100 book titles, 80 percent of which are Chinese online literature, and attracts over 300,000 monthly visits from countries including France, Belgium, Switzerland and Canada.

"I can find resonance and joy from Chinese online literature," said Charles Emmanuel Dewees, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Chireads, who established the platform in 2017 after being attracted by the unique narratives and rich meanings of Chinese online literature.

"Chinese stories are worth telling," he said, noting that with more volunteers and via AI, more language versions will be uploaded on the platform. "So that more people can feel the charm of Chinese online literature."