HOU Shiqin, Year 1 student from the inaugural cohort of the MA in Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC), has won the Gold Award in the Creative Track at the Consistency in Video Generation Models Challenge 2026. The challenge was held during the 40th Annual AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Singapore in January 2026. 

Grounded in the aesthetic style of traditional Chinese silk painting, her award-winning AI short film titled “The Meeting” depicts a spirited fox that leaps from an ancient painting and leads a horse through Hong Kong’s vibrant streets and the tranquil HKUST campus, culminating in an encounter that transcends dimensions and cultural symbols. The film addresses key challenges in video generation—maintaining physical plausibility and preserving element identity across shots—by keeping the fox and horse visually coherent throughout and blending classical painterly imagery with modern urban lighting to ensure narrative logic and consistency. 

This achievement exemplifies the ability of AMC students to connect artistic imagination with technological innovation, a synergy cultivated through the MA in AMC program. 

The Challenge debuted at the AAAI 2026 full-day workshop, "Consistency in Video Generative Models: From Clip to the Wild," which addresses semantic and physical coherence within clips, smooth camera transitions, and the preservation of identity across shots. The event brought together generative AI researchers and practitioners from across the globe to foster collaboration and develop robust methods for consistent video generation.