The recent demo of VASA-1 showcased impressive results, as there have been many attempts to perfect lip-synching etc. Shout out to Milli Vanilli.  It’s amazing to see how the interface has changed from recordings at different angles to now simple images and audio to create these animated visualizations. The potential for this misuse of this technology is immense as with any technology. But if you innovate for Good, In the right hands, it can lead to business transformation. To quote my colleague Evan Shapiro,”If we only imagine the bad things we can do with new technologies, we empower only the worst in us.”

How essential is it for AI-generated characters to display human appearance in photoreal fashion? As the distinction between what is real and what is synthetic blurs, I think that the more realistic iterations will win. This is what technology is striving for. As our interactions with the internet, social media, the Internet of Things and the AI of things (AIoT) become voice and gesture driven, a new distinct interface for conversational information delivery emerges and indeed is the future interface. The good news for UX designers is that the responses, results, and displays asked for continue the need for design, but with more spatial emphasis.

At RealmIQ, LLC, we are platform agnostic but advise companies how to utilize similar technologies to transform their business. In this new category of “Synthetic Media,” some users prefer more realistic characters, while others favor a clear distinction from human likenesses, opting for avatars that clearly signal their artificial nature. Personally, I don’t want to live in a Zuckerberg world. If we are trying to put the human into AI, use the best representation of a human. Imagine customer service being transformed into a listening and understanding experience, presented by a human-like interaction. This has significant impact across fields such as education, marketing, customer service and training.

About the Author

Curt Doty specializes in branding, product development, social strategy, integrated marketing, and UXD. He has extensive experience on AI-driven platforms MidJourney, Adobe Firefly, ChatGPT, Murf.ai, and DALL-E. His legacy of entertainment branding: Electronic Arts, EA Sports, ProSieben, SAT.1, WBTV Latin America, Discovery Health, ABC, CBS, A&E, StarTV, Fox, Kabel 1, TV Guide Channel, and Prevue Channel.

He is a sought after public speaker having been featured at Mobile Growth Association, Mobile Congress, App Growth Summit, Promax, CES, CTIA, NAB, NATPE, MMA Global, New Mexico Angels, Santa Fe Business Incubator, EntrepeneursRx and AI Impact. He is now represented by Ovationz. His most recent consultancy RealmIQ helps companies manage the AI Revolution.

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