Early headlines about artificial-intelligence-generated avatars have focused primarily on fake, but scarily realistic, videos of celebrities, politicians and journalists, known as “deepfakes.” Many—like this faked clip of Gayle King, co-host of CBS This Morning, seemingly promoting a product she says she’s never seen or used—have been created without the approval of the avatars’ human counterparts.
But now, developers of the rapidly evolving technology are pursuing ways to digitally clone the non-famous. And they’re counting on us not only approving of the avatars’ existence but paying for the rights to own them.
This summer, Helen Todd, host of Creativity Squared, a podcast about AI collaborations with artists, became one of the first Cincinnatians to obtain a professionally produced digital clone through a partnership with Render, a company that specializes in custom digital avatars. Next week, Todd and Render plan to introduce the self-cloning concept to the broader Cincinnati community at a free happy hour and training event in Over-the-Rhine.
“One thing I get a lot is, Your avatar is cool, but aside from the novelty, why do you have an avatar?” Todd says. “This event will answer the question of why would someone want to digitally clone themselves.”
The October 24 event will feature a demonstration of Todd’s digital avatar, which she has named Helen 2.ODD. Jill Schiefelbein, chief experience officer for Render, will present ideas for using avatars to streamline the process of recording online training programs, creating social media content and personalizing customer service messages.
Schiefelbein goes so far as to call hyper-realistic custom avatars “the future of business communication.” And all indications are that the market is quickly expanding. One report by Grand View Research estimated digital avatars will grow into a $270 billion industry by 2030.
Local AI watchers are following the trend with interest. Chip Heath, a marketing lecturer and director of online learning for Haile College of Business at Northern Kentucky University, expects the efficacy of machine-generated communicators will determine their success. “That’s the No. 1 question for me and for businesses,” he says. “Once the glitter of saving money goes away, we want to know: Is it effective? There’s more to effective message delivery than looking human. What are the important factors in successful communication and how well does an avatar align with those? I don’t know the answer to that yet. I think academically we’re going to see a great deal of research in this area.”
Heath’s colleague, Nicholas Caporusso, an assistant professor of computer science at NKU’s College of Informatics, predicts the avatar technology will lead to an explosion of new content. He compared the dynamic to the impact of television. “TV opened a new channel for people to consume information. What we’re seeing now is that channel being multiplied because content production becomes immediate.” But he expects businesses selling synthetic avatars will face heavy competition. “The technology is becoming more and more accessible to everyone,” he says. “It’s getting to be more crowded as a space.”
For those who are interested in buying their own custom avatar, Render has begun scheduling appointments in Cincinnati. The company’s “Avatar Experience” includes a hair and make-up appointment, followed by video and audio recording sessions. The recordings are used to train AI software to match the owner’s voice and appearance and create their digital likeness. Once clients approve their digital replica, they receive an avatar application. When the owner enters a script into the app, it will generate a video of the avatar speaking the words using the owner’s voice and appearance.
This process costs $1,000 for a one-time production fee and an additional $1,000 for an annual license fee for maintenance and upgrades. Finally, there’s a $200-a-month subscription charge, according to the website.
The A.I. Avatars & Aperitifs event will be from 5-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 24 at ADC Fine Art Gallery, 1013 York St., West End. For more information and to register, visit the website.
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