Artificial intelligence has reached a new milestone, as the company Synthesia has pioneered virtual avatars for business professionals and the implications are both intriguing and unsettling. AI technology is rapidly advancing, with some people applauding and others holding their breath. There’s an ongoing debate whether AI that replicates humans will be a constructive or destructive force for humanity in the future. AI human avatars created by Synthesia opens a can of worms — the technology could be a massive benefit in the business world, and some could use it as a detriment to society.
For decades now, media has been portraying AI on the same level, if not operating at a higher ability, than humans for quite some time, but the reality has been a lot more pragmatic. Most AI is designed to replace trivial tasks that humans find boring, so many people haven’t batted an eyelash. Just as long as AI doesn’t creep into higher-level brain functions like creativity, emotions and analytical powers, people aren’t threatened. However, AI technology is becoming extremely advanced, some of which can write and recite poetry, use judgment to decide between variables and eerily mimic humans.
Related: A Humanoid AI Became the First to Write Poetry & Recite It To An Audience
Some people might be hard-pressed to distinguish between a real person and one of Synthesia’s virtual avatars. The company can create generic and custom AI human avatars that can be programmed to speak a typed script, translated and spoken in more than 50 languages, which are meant to be used in training materials, corporate communications and even personalized videos. For example, if someone wanted to create a custom AI avatar, they would have to upload a 10-minute video onto the platform of that person speaking in front of a green screen. After that, the AI technology analyzes the recorded video for facial expressions, voice inflection and intonation, and catalogs essential language homonyms to create a synthetic version of that person speaking.
AI Used for Nefarious Purposes
While Synthesia harps on about their focus on maintaining their customer’s privacy and security, hackers have accessed and used fewer synthetic digital assets than Synthesia can produce to defraud people. Documented corporate fraud cases reveal that scammers used deepfake methods to clone top executives’ voices to trick business associates into transferring money to their bank accounts. In one situation, a company was defrauded out of $240,000. Putting business aside, if someone in politics or an A-list celebrity creates a custom avatar, scammers could use their AI avatar to broadcast terrifying messages to the public that could incite violence and unrest.
No matter the possible drawbacks, Synthesia’s human avatars have picked up a tremendous amount of steam, with many businesses using their services, and as the company itself has garnished tons of positive publicity. Synthesia has been featured in large syndications like WIRED, TechCrunch, and many other outlets. In addition, more than 4,500 companies, including giant corporations like Nike, Google, and BBC, have used a Synthesia human virtual avatar in some fashion. But, unfortunately, it would appear that businesses aren’t the least bit concerned about using the technology.
Like it or not, the dawn of AI is here to stay, and AI human avatars will start to become an everyday thing in the future. While corporations might be jumping for joy at the benefits of Synthesia’s tech, that doesn’t mean that the ordinary person is very pleased. It might make many people question the validity of every video that comes through their inbox or onto their television set. A hard-core skeptic might even start to wonder if a loving message from their mother is real or fake. Here’s to hoping that AI digital avatars stay in their proper lanes.
