HeyGen has announced a new capability that will allow users to produce AI avatars that can attend Zoom meetings for them.
HeyGen, an AI video generation platform, promises that these digital AI avatars allow users to attend multiple Zoom meetings simultaneously and are capable of being able to “think, talk and make decisions” similar to those the user would have otherwise done themselves through being informed by data. The solution intends to boost productivity by taking on repetitive or low-priority tasks for users.
The solution echoes Zoom Founder and CEO Eric Yuan’s prediction in June of the emergence of “digital twins” who could attend virtual meetings for users.
HeyGen’s announcement blog wrote:
Our latest update lets your AI avatar join one or multiple Zoom meetings simultaneously, 24/7. Your avatar won’t just look and sound like you, it’ll think, talk, and make decisions, just like you. Armed with whatever knowledge or persona you give them, the Interactive Avatar is perfect for online coaching, customer support, sales calls, interviews, and more. It can take on repetitive meetings with ease, freeing you up for what really matters.”
HeyGen also emphasises that their product features the HeyGen Interactive Avatar, equipped with advanced Open AI Realtime Voice integration. This technology aims to enable the avatar to engage in intelligent, efficient, and timely conversations with any audience.
HeyGen is pitched as a cutting-edge AI-powered video creation platform that assists businesses in creating personalised video avatars, translating content in real-time, and scaling their digital communication efforts.
More Info On The AI Avatars
HeyGen outlines that the avatars are designed with customisable knowledge bases, allowing users to input specific company information, brand guidelines, or any other relevant data. This ensures that the avatar accurately reflects the user’s or organisation’s identity and values.
HeyGen suggests using the avatars for online coaching and training, customer support, therapy sessions, job interviews, sales calls, and language learning and translation assistance, among other use cases.
HeyGen adds that the system seamlessly integrates with Google Calendar, enabling users to preview their upcoming Zoom meetings and assign avatars to attend specific sessions. After each meeting, the avatar delivers a summary and a recording of the proceedings.
Zoom CEO Foresees Future of AI Avatars Attending Your Meetings
In June, Yuan shared his vision of AI-powered avatars that can represent and make informed decisions on behalf of their human counterparts, including attending meetings users cannot make themselves.
Yuan referred to these AI-powered versions of ourselves as “digital twins,” a term typically used to describe virtual representations of real-world objects or systems. He envisions multiple digital twins that could communicate and make decisions on our behalf across Zoom and other platforms without requiring our physical presence.
In addition to sharing his vision of semi-autonomous clones attending Zoom meetings in the future, Yuan also explored the possibility of incorporating virtual reality into Zoom’s communication and collaboration platform, potentially transformihowway we interact in virtual environments.
“Your digital twins, multiple digital twins, are different based on your training,” Yuan told The Verge. “One digital twin is really more like a sales expert; another digital twin of yourself is more like an engineering expert. I think the interface is Zoom’s interface. However, how to manage that is very different. That’s the reason why I like crypto technology. It’s more like fully distributed.”
He envisioned a scenario in which someone might notify him that his digital twin isn’t responding effectively to a message they sent. The AI could eventually manage tasks like filtering spam, replying to text messages, making phone calls, and even attending meetings on your behalf, allowing you to focus on other tasks or, as Yuan humorously suggested, “go to the beach”.
