Digital Clones: The Future of AI-Powered Avatars
Published 09 March 2023
2 min read
As the world of artificial intelligence (AI) expands rapidly – see Generative AI & the Creative Industries – tech companies are developing new tools to create digital reflections of people. We explore two ways in which AI-powered avatars could be used in the future.
- Streamlining Interactions: London-based AI video generation platform Synthesia enables people to devise AI avatars that can speak more than 120 languages. Users can create their own AI clone – or digital twin – or choose from the platform’s avatar catalogue to generate videos (like educational or marketing content). Besides videos, Synthesia’s avatars can be integrated into other software and planning tools, such as PowerPoint, Notion and Monday.
Samsung recently announced a feature that allows people to clone their voices with AI. The Custom Voice Creator can respond to incoming calls on the user’s behalf. For now, it’s only available in South Korea. Samsung already offers an AI feature called Bixby Text Call in English and Korean, which transcribes phone calls in real time. - AI Cloning for Remembrance: California-based HereAfter AI preserves memories by compiling digital profiles of loved ones. The app lets users chat to deceased family members or listen to stories told in their voices.
Open-source platform Somnium Space is developing its Live Forever mode. This will allow the creation of digital versions of people based on a collection of data that will live forever within the metaverse. While Live Forever is set to launch within the next two years, Hossein Rahnama, associate professor at Toronto Metropolitan University and a research affiliate with the MIT Media Lab, is well into the development of his AI life-extending tool, Augmented Eternity. Users will be able to construct virtual clones of their deceased loved ones and interact with their digital representations in real time.