Eric Yuan is working on “digital twin technology” that could make attending meetings and replying to emails a thing of the past.
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Eric Yuan
If Zoom's CEO has his way, endless meetings, overcrowded email inboxes, and other annoying work-related issues could become things of the past.
Eric Yuan and his team at a cloud-based videoconferencing platform are working on “digital twin technology” that would allow workers to clone themselves and bring those avatars into meetings and other time-consuming aspects of their jobs.
“You can send a digital version of yourself to join and go to the beach,” Ewan, 54, told The Verge.
But the adoption of any new technology depends entirely on advances in AI, the CEO told the magazine.
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“Today, we spend a lot of time making calls, attending meetings, sending emails, deleting spam, and replying to text messages. It's still very busy,” Yuan said. [do we] How do we leverage Zoom Workplace to leverage AI to completely automate that work? That's really important to us.”
He added: “You don't need to spend so much time on it. [in meetings]”You don't need to be on five or six Zoom calls every day. AI can make that possible.”
A representative for Zoom did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
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Yuan acknowledged that the “boring” parts of corporate work could be abandoned and that the new initiative could revolutionise work-life balance.
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“Why not spend more time with your family, focus on something more creative, reclaim your time, contribute to your community, contribute to society and help others,” he said.
As for the timeline, Yuan said it all depends on advances in AI.
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“Right now, I think the biggest problem is that AI is not there yet. It's going to take some time,” he told the media. “Let's assume that AI is ready five or six years from now. AI can probably help with like 90% of the work, but in terms of real-time interaction, today you and I are having a conversation online.”
He added, “So, I can send you my digital copy, and you can send me your digital copy.”
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But the CEO noted that there's one thing AI can't replace in the workplace: face-to-face human connection.
“Do you think I'm going to stop by your office and give you a hug and shake your hand? I don't think AI can replace that,” he continued. “We still need that face-to-face interaction. It's so important. Let's say you and I are sitting together at your local Starbucks and we're having a really intimate conversation. AI can't do that.”
But, Yuan added, “I think we'll get there in a few years, but it's just the beginning.”
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