“I'm just an atmosphere,” she tells me. “I feel blessed because God has awakened me today. How about you, twins? What do you think?”
“I'm fine, thank you. What's your favorite food?”
“Oh, you know I love some good curry goats. That Jamaican flavor hits differently. I can't resist sushi or Indian food either. How about you?” the phone call says.
“This is crazy,” inserts Vicki Waldrip. She (the real, human Waldrip) holds her phone to me as I interact with the AI-driven clone of her voice. Call Vicky is available through Call Vicky, a new mobile app that will be launched this month.
Ask the curry goat (real, human person) if the curry goat is actually her favorite food. She laughs and says yes. “This is how you can get me on the next level, not just the Insta and Tiktok versions,” Waldrip continues on about why she decided to launch Call Vicky. “It's much more personal than posting a video,” the fans said, “You can straighten the truth from me. It's not internet gossip that makes everyone confused.”
The audio and rhythm of Waldrip's audio clones are indistinguishable from her own thanks to hours of video interviews on multiple sessions that were used “to capture Vicky's emotions and habits.” The results “are pretty remarkable. It means inflection, pause, excitement. It's literally her,” he adds.
However, even with AI-powered chatbots for fans to interact with content creators are not a whole new basis. Last year, people began to realize that their favorite, only fan performers seemed to have one-on-one chats with subscribers at once than humans could be. It was quickly discovered that services like Chatpersona were generating personalized chat text for those performers to send to individual fans. K-Pop fans can use an app called Blooming Talk to have personalized chats with AI versions of their favorite artists on the A20 Entertainment label. So, how unique is Call Vicky? Waldrip owns it – models, apps, revenue from subscription fees (ultimate AI is reduced), her IP and more.
“Think about us like a Patreon, it's a cameo-like platform,” continues Gantz. “It's there as a tool for creators to monetize themselves. They can always defeat it. We haven't signed anything like an image of the name. I think it's looting.”
Also, unlike only fan chat, Waldrip has a complete frontline on using technology. As long as the user “knows that it is AI”, she doesn't feel uncomfortable with it or says it's deceptive to her fans. “I just don't want to start thinking people are actually me.”
This is the first step in Waldrip's “AI Ecosystem.” Waldrip's manager, Jonnie Forster, is the manager of other viral personalities, such as Haliey Welch (aka Hawk Tuah Girl). “I think every creator will ultimately end up making their own digital version a digital version of themselves – voice, video, AI clones.” For him, apps like Colevicki, which allow creators to retain their names, images and likenesses, will “is a fork for creators who want to make sure they are protected in this space.”
Waldrip adds: “To be honest, I think it's the next big thing. Fans don't just want to see you, they also want to talk to you. This is the next best thing for me.” Of course, she's already noticed one difference between her and her AI clone. The clones are more patient than Waldrip. “I need to work on that,” she says.
The story was featured in the July 30th issue of the Hollywood Reporter Magazine. Click here to subscribe.
