Whether it is virtual reality or artificial intelligence, the world of tomorrow seems to be quite dominated by simulacra powered by algorithms approximating everything from the world around us to humanity itself.
And it is this latter innovation that concerns the folks over at D-ID, creators of Deep Nostalgia. In what can only be called an eerie and uncanny creation, the team over there managed to make an application capable of transforming a single photograph into an AI-powered avatar capable of generating a video using said subject.
Called Creative Reality Studio, this kind of development promises to do nothing less than revolutionizing the way some common communications are handled such as public service announcements and the like. But the ultimate horizon is much broader than that and, really, the sky (and your imagination) seem to be the only limits here.
As with all things in this arena, there are two tiers so far: A version that allows users to select from a list of presenters already generated or upload their own while the paid version offers more dynamic facial expressions. To generate the speech for the presentation, users can upload audio or use their own text. So far, the platform supports 119 languages.
D-ID’s CEO Gil Perry even cited COVID-19 and the increased demand for online presentations for everything from commerce to education as part of the reasons behind the project:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated needs for digital content across the globe. A big problem for organizations is the creation of educational content. Reading documents and going through presentations could be dry and boring. Plus, they have to spend thousands of dollars to hire actors and create educational videos. So we are using our AI to create presenters and tutors to reenact humans and make the content more engaging and effective.”
While we are more than impressed with the avatar concept itself, we have to admit, we’re still somewhat bowled over by the fact that this can be accomplished from a single photograph. But the times, they are a-changing, and much more rapidly than some of us realize.
What do you think the future holds for AI? And what are your thoughts on AI avatars being generated from a single photograph? Creepy or the way of the future? Let us know in the comments.
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