California: Every company has employees they can’t afford to lose. Outstanding. People joking about cloning.
Well, that joke may come down to us one day as the artificial intelligence boom accelerates.
And digital clones, aka avatars, pose many ethical questions and opportunities in the worlds of business, economics, science, and art.
Bloomberg TV anchor Tom Mackenzie cloned himself to see how far technology has already come. He then conversed with his AI-powered twin, Avatar his Tom.
Created by London-based synthetic media platform Synthesia and using ChatGPT to generate responses, Mackenzie’s digital twin is animated by algorithms that can mimic his appearance, behavior and voice.
Avatars are likely to be the next big thing in the AI space, with various industries turning to avatars to increase productivity, reduce costs, and streamline operations such as training, customer support, sales, and communications. increase.
Investors are taking notice, with VC money pouring into what is predicted to be a $527 billion industry by the end of 2020.
Synthesia is one of its leaders, having raised $50 million and developed “human” avatars for over 15,000 companies, including McDonald’s, Accenture and the UK National Health Service.
According to a Synthesia spokesperson, avatars can be used to increase efficiency within an organization and replace documents and PowerPoint presentations with more engaging videos.
At a cost of about $1,000 per custom-made avatar, the London-based company has also created a synthetic David Beckham copy of the former soccer player who can speak nine languages.
Google-backed Runway and Deep Voodoo, popular for special effects in Kendrick Lamar’s music videos, are also creating AI-powered human avatars.
An artificial intelligence billboard at the Taipei Computex Expo on Tuesday, May 30, 2023 in Taipei, Taiwan. The fair will run until June 2nd. Credit Required: Bloomberg Photo Credit: I-Hwa Cheng
Image credits: Bloomberg
At risk of becoming “deepfake” machines, such platforms already have a disturbing history of publishing propaganda and outright lies without accountability. Sinceresia said it tightened its regulations this year after one of its avatars was linked to the spread of misinformation.
And, of course, replacing human jobs with avatars is also a concern. When asked about this, Avatar Tom replied: “Human TV anchors bring unique qualities such as charisma, critical thinking, and adaptability. So rest assured, I’m here to help, not replace you.”
So while the human Mackenzie job looks safe for now, it may not be too long before that changes.
